Tempest
by Mashtar
Summary: Team Seven were the wildcards, and Isa Yamanaka was determined not to be the girl simply caught in the middle. Right from the start, it was bound to be interesting.
1. Chapter 1

**"Character, like a photograph, develops in darkness." - Yousuf Karsh**

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Team Seven were the wildcards. Naruto Uzumaki was a troublemaker, couldn't sit still for more than five minutes, Sasuke Uchiha was taciturn, rude, unfriendly, probably had enough emotional issues to keep a therapist busy for years, and Isa Yamanaka was one of the smartest young shinobi in the village, dropped into the center of a perfect storm. Right from the start, it was bound to be interesting.

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_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters. Isa Yamanaka and any other OC's are mine._

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Isa Yamanaka's eyes fluttered open, staring blearily at the ceiling. Her toes curled into the blankets as she stretched, the sun hanging lazily in the early morning sky. The house was peaceful, quiet, her room hazy with sunlight. There were books stacked everywhere, haphazard piles around her desk and at the foot of her bed. They teetered dangerously when her feet hit the floor, threatening to topple over at the slightest breeze. She fixed them with a tired, stern gaze, willing them to stay put. They did, and with a grateful sigh, Isa made her way to the bathroom, padding across the hallway on silent feet.

Though it certainly wasn't late in the morning, it was still another half-hour before Isa's twin sister emerged from her own bedroom. Compared to Ino, Isa considered herself a morning person. Granted, anyone was a morning person compared to Ino. Isa smiled at her sister when she stumbled into the bathroom, a bath towel draped over her head, yawning widely. Isa was already dragging a comb through her wet hair, and at a lazy wave of Ino's hand, she vacated the bathroom, returning to her room to toss on her clothes and pull her waist-length blonde hair into a high ponytail.

Bouncing down the stairs, she took the glass of orange juice her mother offered her and sat down at the kitchen table, kicking her feet cheerfully. Her mother set a plate of food in front of her, smiling when Isa dug in with enthusiasm. Hanako Yamanaka was an effortlessly regal woman, always put together, a charming woman, and a doting mother; Isa couldn't recall a time when she hadn't looked perfectly composed and graceful.

Her father, Inoichi, joined them at the table, planting a kiss on Isa's forehead as he sat down. They settled into a comfortable silence while they ate until Ino finally clattered down the stairs, slightly more awake than she had been earlier.

"Sorry I'm late!" She said, sitting down and shoving a sizable forkful of food into her mouth. She ate quickly, eying the clock on the wall with narrowed eyes.

Hanako watched her over the rim of her coffee cup, caught between laughter and dismay. "Ino, slow down. You'll get a stomach ache."

Ino swallowed before replying. "I don't have time to eat slow. We're getting our squad assignments today, remember? I want to be on time."

"You two excited?" Inoichi asked, looking between his daughters with a smile.

Isa glanced at Ino and grinned. "Ino's just hoping she ends up on a squad with Sasuke Uchiha." She teased, giggling as Ino blushed, trying to kick her under the table.

"I am not!" She exclaimed, sticking her tongue out at Isa, who mirrored the expression.

Inoichi shook his head with a fond smile. "I wouldn't get your hopes up, Ino. Chances are, you'll be paired up with Shikamaru and Choji."

Ino sighed, flipping her hair out of her face with a flick of her wrist. "I know, I know. Every generation has to have an Ino-Shika-Cho, right? Isa's probably gonna end up with a cool team."

Isa shrugged. "Maybe. Shikamaru and Choji aren't that bad, though. At least you're already friends with them, it won't be awkward or anything."

"Yeah, but all Shikamaru does is complain, and Choji just eats everything. It's gonna be _so_ boring."

Isa and her father exchanged a glance and burst out laughing, Ino grinning cheekily until even their mother cracked a smile, shaking her head. "Well, regardless of who you end up with, you need to finish eating or you'll be late." Hanako said, glancing at a nearby clock.

"I had to wait for the water to heat up again because Isa used it all!" Ino whined, but she stood up and grabbed the bentos sitting on the kitchen counter, handing one to Isa as she joined her at the front door.

"You could have just used chakra to warm it up." Isa pointed out, waving goodbye to their parents.

Ino waved off her comment airily, as she did most everything, and they set off down the street. The walk to the Academy wasn't a long one, but Ino set a brisk pace, chattering on about something- probably Sasuke- while they walked. Isa nodded along until she spotted a head of pink hair bobbing toward them.

"Sakura!" She raised a hand, waving to their classmate, who smiled upon seeing them.

The pink-haired kunoichi fell into step beside them easily. "Morning, Isa! Hi, Ino."

"Oh. Hey, Sakura." Ino affected indifference at the arrival of their long-time friend, and her part-time rival. "I was just telling Isa about seeing Sasuke yesterday when he walked past the flower shop. Have you seen him lately?"

Sakura frowned a little. "Um, no, I haven't seen him. I don't really see him around that often." She looked disappointed.

Their feet carried them along the familiar path to the Academy, passing other students as they walked. Many of them paused to greet them, waving from their respective groups. Ino, a social butterfly, would have stopped to talk to all of them, but with a gentle tug on her hand, she allowed Isa to drag her along.

Finally, without too many social stops, they reached the classroom, settling into their customary seats near the back. Shikamaru Nara was already in his seat, slumped over the desk. He was a lanky boy with spiky black hair and a perpetually bored expression, but he lifted a hand when Isa waved at him, though that was likely the most acknowledgment she was going to get out of him. Anything else would take too much effort, something he famously avoided at all costs.

"Sasuke's not here yet," Ino said, pouting at the empty seat where Sasuke Uchiha usually sat. Her rather unfortunate infatuation with their classmate had started a few years ago, and had sparked the rivalry between her and Sakura. As far as Isa could tell, though, the introverted boy gave no sign that he returned their affections, or even knew they existed beyond an occasional irritated grumble when they crowded too close.

"He doesn't usually show up until the last minute," Sakura said.

"It's pretty late already, though." Ino whined, voice taking on a pitch that she only reserved for complaining. Shikamaru, intrinsically familiar with Ino's tendency to whine, sighed from behind them and put his head down on the desk, apparently already too exhausted with the day to bother staying awake.

"Shikamaru." Isa prodded him on the arm gently. He grunted. "Shika, you shouldn't sleep. Iruka-sensei caught you sleeping yesterday and he was really mad, I don't think he'd like it if he caught you again today before class has even started."

"If class hasn't started, then I'm not technically breaking any rules." He pointed out, voice muffled from behind the circle of his arms. Isa laughed, smiling at Hinata Hyuuga when she sat down by Shikamaru. The tiny girl flushed when Isa caught her eye, lips barely quirking in a smile before she was staring at the desk, hands fiddling nervously.

Isa poked Shikamaru once more before turning around in time to see Iruka-sensei walk into the room, accompanied by the usual last-minute arrivals, including Kiba, who was grinning widely, a small white dog perched on his head, and Sasuke, who entered the room to a chorus of sighs from most of the female students.

"He is _so_ cute," Ino whispered, looking up at the ceiling as if praying. Sakura was staring at the dark-haired boy with wide eyes, cheeks pink enough to match her hair. Isa watched him sit down, noting the annoyed look already on his face. She understood why he got so much attention; he was cute, and he was always brooding and distant, which she supposed was cute, too, as long as you didn't actually try to talk to him. But Ino had, quite loudly, staked her claim over him, and Isa had learned long ago that it was better to let Ino get what she wanted.

Just as the bell for class was about to ring, Naruto Uzumaki came barreling into the room. Over the years, everyone had gotten used to Naruto's grand entrances. Most days, if he bothered to show up at all, he arrived in a whirlwind of orange, shouting about something fantastic that had happened to him on the way to the Academy, which was almost always why he was late. Isa had seen him in the Ichiraku Ramen shop before class more than once, and she suspected that most of his stories were fabricated, and he was simply distracted by food or had overslept.

"What's _he_ doing here?" Ino whispered, frowning at the energetic blond boy. At Isa's questioning look, she clarified. "I thought he failed the genin exams, like, three times."

Isa's eyebrows raised in surprise. "Really? I didn't think he was that bad." She glanced at Naruto, who was in the middle of a long-winded story. "He must have passed somehow, or he wouldn't be here."

Ino didn't look satisfied, but let it drop, mindlessly doodling a heart on the surface of the desk. Isa looked at Naruto closely, chewing on her bottom lip in thought.

He was entertaining, at least for the most part. And some of his jokes were genuinely funny, even if they were mostly at the expense of himself. Isa hadn't interacted with him very much, since she mostly stuck to Ino and the group of socialites who constantly surrounded her. But they'd played ninja together before, and she knew he probably wasn't as terrible a shinobi as everyone made him out to be, even though he was exceptionally awful at the simple clone jutsu they'd learned in class.

His antics were enough to wake up Shikamaru, who mumbled something about "troublesome" before covering his ears and putting his head down again. Ino was expanding on her drawing, adding an "S+I" to the inside of the heart. If Isa hadn't known they were getting their squad assignments today, it would have felt just like any other day of class.

"Alright, well, if Naruto is done telling his story, I have an announcement." Iruka said, clapping his hands together in an attempt to regain the attention of the class. Ino's pencil immediately stilled, and she even reached back to jab it into Shikamaru's arm to make sure he was awake. There was an air of anticipation in the room, and everyone was still, focused intently on their teacher.

Iruka smiled once all eyes were trained on him. "I assume you all know why you're here today. I have the paper right here with your squad assignments. Now, before you all get too excited, I wanted to congratulate you for coming so far. You guys have done great, I'm proud of everyone in this room. You've all improved immensely this year alone, and it's been a real pleasure watching you all grow into capable shinobi."

Kiba, who was sitting near the front of the class, groaned. "Come _on_, Iruka-sensei! Tell us our squads!" There were scattered mumbles of agreement, and Iruka laughed. He produced a piece of paper and cleared his throat, waiting for the noise to die down.

He started reading off the list, most of the names only vaguely familiar to Isa. She listened, impatient fingers tapping out a steady beat on the desk. Finally, there was a name she recognized.

"Haruno, Sakura," Iruka said. The pink-haired girl shot upright in her seat, eyes very wide. "Ueda, Itsuki, and Oshiro, Kouta will be with jonin Ayume Yamada." Sakura blinked, nonplussed. Isa knew Itsuki and Kouta, both boys were the first in their family to join the Academy, like Sakura, but beyond that she knew little of their abilities.

Ino nudged Sakura gently with an elbow, for once their rivalry forgotten. "Hey, that's good, right? They're cool."

Sakura nodded slowly. "I guess so. I don't really know what I was expecting." She said, frowning at her friends uncertainly.

Isa leaned toward her and squeezed her hand comfortingly. "Don't worry, it'll be fine. Just give them a chance, I bet you'll all be friends in no time."

Sakura smiled weakly, but she looked slightly mollified, waving shyly at her teammates, who waved in response.

After that, their friends were called in quick succession. Kiba, Hinata, and Shino were put on a team with a jonin named Kurenai, and, to no one's surprise, Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino were assigned to a team with Asuma Sarutobi.

Finally, Isa's name was called.

"Yamanaka, Isa, Uzumaki, Naruto, and Uchiha, Sasuke will be with Kakashi Hatake."

Isa's mouth dropped open and she stared at her sister in shock. Ino's face flickered between surprise and jealousy, but she settled on hugging Isa warmly.

"It's okay," She whispered in Isa's ear, smiling at her. "If anyone had to end up with him, I'm glad it's you."

Isa smiled, relieved, ignoring Naruto's shouts of complaint.

"Why do I have to be on a team with Sasuke?" He complained loudly, glaring at the other boy. They glowered at each other darkly. Isa watched them, reluctant to have to play peacemaker so soon, but feeling like she should at least do something to pacify them. They'd never gotten along for as long as she could remember. Putting them on a team together didn't strike her as the smartest decision. And she was going to be stuck in the middle.

"What, like I want to be on a team with Dead-Last?" Sasuke smirked at Naruto, clearly trying to provoke him.

_It's been five seconds and they're already fighting. Fantastic. _Isa stood up and grabbed Naruto's arm, trying to direct his attention anywhere other than at Sasuke. "Naruto, he's baiting you. Just ignore him, okay?" She smiled at him soothingly. "I don't want us to start fighting already."

Sasuke snorted dismissively, and turned to the window. Naruto made a rude gesture at the back of his head, but sat down, still fuming, but, for the moment, placated.

Isa went back to her seat and Iruka finished reading off the squads, then released them for lunch. Isa wandered over to where Naruto was sitting alone, feeling almost awkward as she approached him. She'd never known him very well, and she'd never had to interact with him all by herself. It was strangely intimidating to have to make new friends.

"Hey, Naruto," She said. He looked up at her in surprise, then grinned.

"Oh, hey, Isa. What's up?"

She hesitated, scuffing her foot against the grass. "I just thought maybe you'd like to eat lunch together? Since we're on a team and all."

He stared at her. "You want to eat lunch with me? Alright! Yeah!" He jumped up, pumping his fist in the air excitedly.

"And I was thinking we could find Sasuke, too. I know you guys don't like each other, but we're gonna have to work together, so we should at least try to get along, right?" She said, watching him carefully. His grin faded and he groaned, but shrugged after a moment.

"Fine, whatever, let's go find him." He walked beside her, hands folded behind his head. "I don't know why he's gotta be on our team. I mean, you're cool and all, so why couldn't they find another cool person? Why'd they have to pick him?"

She smiled. "I'm cool?"

He looked at her as if it was a strange question. "Well, yeah. You're really smart and you've always been nice to me. Your sister's kind of bossy sometimes, but she's cool too."

Isa absorbed that information as they walked, smiling, her anxiety melting away. She didn't have time to figure out how to respond before he was yelling again, "Hey, you!" He shouted at Sasuke, who was walking ahead of them, hands in his pockets. Isa was surprised that he actually stopped, fixing them with a scowl that she pointedly chose to ignore.

Naruto was already glaring at him, but Isa quickly stepped in front of him before he could start another fight. "Um, hi, Sasuke," She said, trying to smile at him. His generally unfriendly air made it difficult. "I was wondering if you wanted to eat lunch together. You know, as a team?"

"You want to eat lunch together?" He repeated dully. He looked fully prepared to sneer and march off.

She held up her bento and nodded. "I have enough to share. I just thought that maybe we should get to know each other a little bit, since we're going to be teammates."

He stared at her for a long, uncomfortable minute. She shuffled her feet awkwardly, but he finally shrugged, and she grinned triumphantly.

They found a bench nearby and sat down, Isa placing herself firmly between the two boys before they could start bickering. She opened the bento and handed out its contents as equally as she could. Her mother hadn't meant for it to be shared between three people, but neither Sasuke nor Naruto seemed to have brought food of their own.

They ate without speaking for a while, and as the silence edged toward oppressive, Isa cast around for something to talk about.

"So, we meet our sensei after this, right?" She asked conversationally.

Naruto nodded vigorously. "I bet he's gonna be awesome!"

Sasuke didn't speak, but it was clear from the way he was deliberately sitting as far away from them as possible that he wasn't really interested in talking.

"He's a jonin, so he's probably got a lot of experience. I bet he knows lots of powerful jutsus and stuff." Isa said, offering a rice ball to Sasuke, who shook his head.

Naruto's eyes grew huge. "You think so? Do you think he'll teach us secret, super strong jutsus?"

She giggled. "Well, most secret jutsus are clan bloodlines, or they're really dangerous. I don't think he'll teach us anything really big for a while."

Naruto sighed, momentarily deflated, but quickly perking up again. "But he'll definitely teach us how to get stronger, right?"

She nodded. "That's his job, isn't it? He gets to teach us and take us on missions." She glanced at her teammates, feeling a bit sorry for her new sensei. She hoped he could handle it.

"He's going to teach us how to be powerful?" Sasuke asked, his voice, always edging on irritated, if not angry, sounded almost intrigued.

"That's... one way of putting it, I guess." She said, relieved that he was at least deigning to speak to them _Baby steps,_ she thought. "Isn't it a little early to be thinking about power, though? We haven't even gone on a single mission yet. We don't really know anything about being a ninja."

Sasuke snorted in disdain. "Maybe you don't."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "We were in all of the same classes, you really think you're a better ninja than we are?"

He stood up and looked at them, derision in his dark eyes. "I _know_ I'm a better ninja than you. You're a waste of my time."

_Oh, wow. Jerk. I definitely came in right behind him in genjutsu, and I beat him in cooperation. Waste of his time? Yeah, right._ She scowled at him, a retort on the tip of her tongue, but he was spared her barbed rebuttal because when she blinked, he was gone, walking away from them without so much as a goodbye. She watched him go with a withering glare.

"What a jerk," Naruto said, mouth full of what was left of her bento. "Hey, your mom is a really good cook, by the way!"

She summoned a smile, shoving Sasuke's attitude problems out of her mind. "I'll tell her you said so, she'll appreciate it."

"She will?" Naruto swallowed noisily. "Do you think she'll make more food if I say it's the best bento I've ever had?"

Isa laughed, picking up the remains of their lunch and tossing them in a nearby garbage can. "I'm sure she'll make you one if you ask."

He hopped up and walked alongside her as they wandered back to the Academy, in no hurry to get there. "I'm not really good at talking to parents, though. Could you do it for me?"

She laughed, good mood quickly restored. "My mom's not scary, she won't yell at you or anything." She had a hard time imagining her mother as anything other than gracious and kind. The thought of her shouting at someone was both hilarious and terrifying. "But I'll ask her anyway, if you don't want to, it's no big deal."

He grinned. "See, I told you you were cool!"

She grinned and they returned to the Academy in a considerably lighter mood. When they got there, nearly everyone had returned, as well. Isa left Naruto and sat down next to Ino, who looked bored.

"How was lunch?" Isa asked when she sat down.

Ino jerked a thumb at Shikamaru, who was actually awake for once. "He slept the whole time, and Choji ate half my bento. We didn't get to do any team bonding at all."

"You said I could have it!" Choji said, sitting down next to Shikamaru, his hand buried in a bag of chips.

"I said you could have _some_ of it, not the whole thing!"

"I didn't eat the whole thing, I only ate part of it." He retorted.

Ino rolled her eyes, but didn't look really upset. "Whatever, I'm on a diet anyway."

"Then why are you complaining about it?" He asked, frowning at her.

"It's the principle of the thing, that's all." She shook her head, turning to Isa. "Please tell me your lunch went better than mine."

Isa pursed her lips in thought. "How do you define 'better'?"

"I don't know, not completely terrible and boring?" Ino said.

Isa glanced at Sasuke, who was, as usual, brooding. Lingering irritation prickled at her, and she forced herself not to glower at him. "It went okay. I shared my food with them, and I thought it was going good until Sasuke started talking about power, said we were a waste of his time, and marched off."

"Sounds like a drag," Shikamaru said.

Ino scoffed. "I'll trade places with you, I swear. You can have these guys, I'll listen to Sasuke talk about power all day."

Choji shook his head at her. "Isn't there a word for that sort of thing? Someone who's obsessed with power?"

"Megalomania," Isa replied. Ino snorted, laughing when Isa elbowed her. "Shut up, don't make fun of me because I'm smarter than you!"

Shikamaru grinned. "I'm glad I'm not stuck with him. Have fun with _that_ on your team."

"You guys, he's not a megalomaniac. He's just... complicated." Ino said, looking at Sasuke adoringly. Shikamaru and Choji rolled their eyes simultaneously, pretending to gag theatrically.

Just then, Sakura walked into the room with her teammates. She quickly slid into the seat next to Ino.

"Hey, Sakura, how was lunch?" Isa asked, leaning around her sister to smile at their friend.

"It was actually pretty good," Sakura said, smiling more confidently than she had earlier.

"That makes one of us," Shikamaru mumbled. Ino shot him a nasty look, but grinned at Sakura.

"I told you it'd be fine!" She said.

Sakura shrugged. "I've never really talked to either of them before. They're pretty nice, Kouta's really funny."

"That's great," Isa said, glad their friend had found a good team.

"What about you?" Sakura asked, looking from Isa to Sasuke. "What'd you guys talk about?"

"Sasuke's a psychopath," Shikamaru said drily. Isa frowned at him.

"He's not a psychopath, he's just a jerk." She turned back to Sakura. "He was quiet most of the time, and he left early. He and Naruto don't really get along."

"Yeah, why'd they put them on a team together, anyway? They're so different." Ino said.

"They're probably trying to balance their personalities or something," Isa said. "I don't know, but it's gonna suck listening to them fight all the time."

Ino shrugged. "Mediate. You're good at that."

Iruka returned shortly, along with the first of the new team leaders. Students started filtering out, collected by their new jonin instructors. Before long, almost everyone was gone, leaving Isa, Naruto, and Sasuke the last team in the room, waiting for their sensei impatiently.

The minutes ticked by, agonizingly slow. If the silence during lunch had been awkward, this one was stifling. No one spoke until, after a good three hours of waiting, Naruto decided to wedge a chalkboard eraser in the doorframe.

"That'll teach him to be late!" He exclaimed, stepping back to admire his trap.

"A jonin isn't going to fall for a stupid trick like that," Sasuke said scornfully.

Isa had pulled her hair out of its ponytail, resorting to braiding it over and over for entertainment. She sighed. _Here we go again. Fight number two. Maybe I should just let it play out. It might be entertaining. _She had almost resigned herself to an afternoon of intense boredom and a headache when she heard something in the hallway. Well, 'heard' wasn't the right word for it. It was more like she felt it, a rush of something, a quick pulse, and then she _could_ hear someone in the hallway, footsteps drawing toward the room.

Her fingers stilled in her hair as the door was opened, a silver-haired head appeared in the doorway, right in the path of Naruto's chalkboard eraser. She watched as it fell, almost in slow motion, landing on the man's head and bouncing off, rolling across the floor. For a split second, everything was completely silent, and then Naruto erupted in a fit of laughter.

"I can't believe you fell for it! I got you so good!" He was doubled over, grin so wide Isa almost thought his face would split in two.

Eventually, Naruto calmed down, his laughter receding to hiccups and giggles. The man was still standing in the doorway, face expressionless. Or at least what she could see of his face. Most of it was covered by a mask, his nose and mouth completely obscured, and his forehead protector was pulled down over his left eye. What little she could see of him, mainly his right eye, looked vaguely unimpressed.

"I don't think I like you guys," He said. Naruto froze mid-chuckle, and even Sasuke blinked, taken aback. "Let's go, then." He gestured for them to follow him, and after trading a confused look with Naruto, Isa followed him, her teammates trailing along behind them.

He ended up leading them to a rooftop veranda, leaning against the railing and indicating that they should sit down on the steps in front of him.

"So, introductions?" He said, watching them expectantly.

Naruto looked completely lost, Sasuke appeared as taciturn as always, so Isa spoke up. "Like, just our names?" She asked.

Their sensei looked at her, gaze evaluating. "Sure, that works. Your names, your likes, dislikes, hobbies, ambitions, that kind of thing."

She took a deep breath and nodded, squaring her shoulders. "My name is Isa Yamanaka, I like flowers and goldfish, I don't like unfairness or people who are mean for no reason, my hobby is reading, and my ambition is to be strong so I can protect people."

Their teacher nodded. "Good, who next?"

"Why do we have to introduce ourselves if you haven't even introduced yourself?" Naruto asked, frowning up at the silver-haired man.

He looked at Naruto and sighed. "Fine. Let's see, my name is Kakashi Hatake, I don't think you need to know what I like and dislike, I have a lot of hobbies, and my dreams for the future, hmm... I don't know, I've never really thought about it." He smiled at them. "Now, your turn."

Naruto huffed, clearly not satisfied with his evasive answer. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki, I like ramen, I don't like waiting for ramen to cook, my hobby is pulling pranks, and my dream is to become the greatest Hokage ever!"

Kakashi nodded after a moment, then looked at Sasuke.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha, I don't like anything, I dislike a lot of things, I don't have any hobbies, and I don't have a dream, but my ambition is to seek vengeance for my clan and to kill a certain man."

Isa stared at him, mouth open. His life goal was to kill someone? _Maybe Shikamaru's right. Maybe he really is a psychopath._

Kakashi appeared totally unfazed, and he stood up, hands in his pockets. "Okay, that's great. We start training tomorrow, meet up at the Third Training Ground."

"What are we going to be doing?" Naruto asked, curiosity blazing across his face.

"Survival training," Kakashi replied.

Isa frowned at him. "Sensei, I thought we finished training when we graduated from the Academy."

"This isn't like your normal training," He said.

"Why not?" She asked.

His smile this time wasn't real, his eye curled up in strangely menacing cheer. "Well, only nine of the twenty-seven graduates will be going on to become genin. Everyone else will be sent back to the Academy. This survival training has a sixty-six percent fail rate."

They stared at him, caught between disbelief and horror.

"Are you _serious_?" Isa asked him, incredulous. _That's just mean! Why tell all of us we're going to become genin if only nine of us are actually moving on?_

His smile was still in place, even as he turned to leave. "Better get some rest before then. And you should skip breakfast tomorrow, otherwise you'll throw up."

Then he was gone, leaving his three dumbfounded students behind. Isa's brain was scrambling to process this information. A pass or fail survival test with a sixty-six percent failure rate? It was insane. It didn't make sense.

"This is stupid," Sasuke muttered, standing up.

"Seriously! We already passed the Academy exam, no one told us anything about a survival test!" Naruto agreed, arms crossed across his chest. Isa almost laughed. Of all the things to bring them together, it was a crazy test given to them by their weird new teacher. _Figures_.

* * *

A/N: Alright, here we go. This is the first fanfiction I've written in probably five years, and the first story I've worked on in a long time. So I'm pretty excited about this, but I forgot how scary it can be actually posting it online. Regardless, enjoy, and drop a review or a PM if you liked it. The next update should be coming out early next week, but since I just started school I'm not sure how much time I'll have to write. I'll try to keep updates regular, but there's not going to be a set schedule. Anyway, thanks for reading, I hope you liked it, and hopefully you stick around for more.


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters. Isa Yamanaka and any other OC's are mine._

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Morning found Isa at the Third Training Field, waiting for her team with her nose buried in a book. She briefly wondered if it was a mistake to show up early, because if the day before was anything to go by, Kakashi would likely show up several hours late.

If she was being honest, she didn't mind the wait. She was laying on her stomach in front of the memorial stone, reading contentedly. It was peaceful in the clearing, the only sounds that of birdsong and the river nearby. It was only when someone made a loud, deliberate cough that she realized how absorbed she'd been in her book.

She sat up in a hurry, looking around for whoever had disturbed her. Sasuke was standing in front of her, an eyebrow raised quizzically.

She smiled at him. "Good morning, Sasuke."

He grunted in response. Figuring that it was the best she'd get from him, she shifted back onto her stomach and resumed reading. Sasuke eventually sat down, his back against the memorial stone. Neither spoke, both preferring the silence rather than whatever stilted conversation would result otherwise.

Time continued to slip by, the sun rising higher in the sky. Isa was grateful that it was late spring, and the days weren't yet unbearably hot, just nice enough for her to appreciate the warmth on her back as she read.

When Naruto arrived, it was with his usual amount of vigor.

"Isa!" He yelled, waving at her from the edge of the forest. She jumped, so accustomed to the quiet that his voice seemed overly loud.

"Hey, Naruto." She greeted him as he jogged up to her, squatting down and squinting at her book.

"What are you reading?" He asked. She sat up, flipping the book shut and tucking it into an inner pocket of her jacket.

"Oh, nothing," She said, smiling at him.

"Is it a girly love story?" He asked very seriously.

She fought the blush that crept across her cheeks. "Maybe. Love stories don't have to be girly, you know."

He frowned at her, then shrugged. "Okay, whatever you say. I like love stories sometimes, they're nice."

She giggled, trying to imagine Naruto reading a romance novel and failing. "You do?"

He nodded. "Yeah, sometimes I even snuck in to see those lovey movies at the theater. Mostly I snuck in to see the awesome kickass ninja movies, though."

"I didn't even know you could sneak into the movie theater," She said wonderingly.

"Oh yeah, it's easy. I used to do it all the time."

"Why'd you stop?"

He folded his hands behind his head and thought about it for a minute. "I just don't think the future Hokage should go around sneaking into movie theaters, you know?"

"You're probably right," She said. Sasuke had been quiet, not even speaking up to toss an insult at Naruto. She glanced at him, but he seemed absorbed in thought, twirling a kunai in his fingers.

She hesitated, reluctant to disrupt him. His face was... not exactly happy, but less angry than she'd ever seen it. She was spared the trouble by Kakashi, who appeared in front of them in a puff of smoke.

"Morning, kids." He greeted them, waving cheerfully.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto jumped up, clearly excited to get started. "You're late!"

Kakashi smiled and shrugged. "Well, a black cat crossed my path, so I had to take the long way around." Isa stared at him, eyebrows raised. _What kind of excuse is that?_ "So, let's get started."

He placed a timer on a stump. "This is set for noon," He said, pressing a button and starting the clock. Isa glanced at the sky; from the angle of the sun, she guessed that they had about two hours left until midday. That didn't leave a lot of time for whatever he had planned.

There was a clear tinkling sound, and then he was holding two small silver bells. "Your assignment is to take these bells from me. That's it. If you can't get them by noon, you go without lunch." He pointed at three wooden posts in the middle of the clearing. "You'll be tied to those posts and you'll watch as I eat my lunch in front of you."

Naruto's mouth dropped. "But sensei, that's not fair! You told us not to eat breakfast, I'm starving!"

Isa glanced at him in sympathy. The no breakfast order had seemed a bit odd to her, and when she'd asked her father about it later, he'd just laughed. "You got Kakashi?" He'd asked. "I hate to ruin his game, but I'd eat something if I were you." So she'd eaten breakfast with him at the crack of dawn, and he'd handed her a handful of ration bars on the way out the door, for her friends, he'd said.

"Kakashi-sensei," She said, frowning at him. "Why are there only two bells?"

He smiled at her. "Well, this way at least one of you will end up tied to a post and ultimately fail the test."

"What?!" Naruto was flabbergasted. "How are we supposed to win, then?"

"You can't. At least, that's the idea," Kakashi said.

"So no matter what we do, there's no way for all of us to win?" Isa said.

He nodded. "That's right. Or, all three of you could fail. Either way, someone's going back to the Academy today."

She took a deep breath, spotting Sasuke gritting his teeth out of the corner of her eye. She had a distinct feeling that she might be the underdog here. Sasuke looked determined, and he had a superiority complex a mile wide; he wouldn't take losing well. Naruto did everything with the intention of winning, and he was a tougher fighter than she was by a long shot.

But she doubted they'd just be able to beat Kakashi senseless and take the bells. He was a jonin, and likely an experienced one, given that her father knew him by name. They were so outclassed that it was almost funny. That didn't seem to be deterring either of her teammates, though. Both boys looked ready to charge at him.

"You can use any weapons you want, and when you attack me, you better do it with the intention to kill. You won't be able to get the bells otherwise."

Isa's mind was racing, forming strategies as quickly as she could. There was no good way to attack him. He was taller, stronger, smarter, and more experienced than any of them. _I wish I knew what Naruto and Sasuke were capable of,_ she thought. _At least that way I'd have some idea for a strategy._

Kakashi tucked the bells into his belt. "Okay, start." To his credit, Naruto didn't immediately jump into action. Kakashi reached into his pocket, pulling out a book and flipping it open.

Isa and Naruto shared a look, confused. "What are you doing?" Naruto asked.

"I'm reading."

Naruto blinked at him. "Why?"

"To see what happens at the end of the book, of course."

Naruto pushed up the sleeves of his jacket. "Well, you better watch out, because I'm gonna get one of those bells and I'll prove to everyone that I'm gonna be the greatest Hokage ever!" He formed a quick series of hand signs, and suddenly there were eight Naruto's scattered around the clearing.

Isa started in surprise. _Naruto can't make clones! It was his worst jutsu at the Academy!_ She squinted at the mirror images of him, but they didn't flicker like normal clones did. _So they're... solid? How does he know how to do that? A genin doesn't even have enough chakra to produce that many clones, let alone solid ones._

With a yell, the Naruto's sprinted at Kakashi, dogpiling him.

Sasuke vanished, disappearing to hide in the trees, leaving Isa standing at the edge of the fight, weighing her options. She could follow Sasuke and set up traps in the forest, waiting for Kakashi to let down his guard, or she could jump into the fray with Naruto. Neither option was a good one.

With a frown of concentration, she made a hand sign, focusing her chakra into her feet. With a boost of speed, she sprinted into the fight, ducking one of Naruto's wayward clones and sliding into arm's reach of Kakashi.

By the time she slowed down, she was crouched down, a kunai in her hand. She slashed at the back of Kakashi's knee, narrowly missing, and twisted, reaching around him for a bell.

She could see it, it was almost in her grasp, and then she watched her arm being pulled away, yanked up behind her back. Suddenly she was face-first in the dirt, Kakashi's foot on her back, one hand holding her arm in a vice grip.

He smiled at her. "So you're the clever one, then?"

"Let her go!" Naruto shouted, emerging from a pile of clones. They disappeared in a puff of smoke. He looked a little rough around the edges, but didn't appear worn out in the slightest.

Isa coughed pitifully, letting tears well up in her eyes. It wasn't hard, since Kakashi was twisting her arm at a fairly painful angle. Her free hand was already moving down to her leg holster, reaching for another kunai.

"Kakashi-sensei, you're hurting me." She whimpered.

There was a flicker of movement, and then Sasuke was there, smirking. "You heard Dead-Last," He said. "Let her go."

Kakashi didn't move. Sasuke huffed a breath, the closest Isa had ever heard him get to a chuckle, and then he was forming hand signs. "Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

Kakashi's grip lessened infinitesimally, and as fire burst out of Sasuke's mouth, Isa yanked a kunai out of her pouch, stabbing upward as hard as she could. His hold on her arm vanished, and she was rolling away, hauling herself to her feet and sprinting for the trees, the tips of her hair barely singed.

She hid on a high branch, desperately trying to get her breathing under control before she peeked out, scanning the clearing. In the center there was a crater where the fireball had hit, and inside, a charred log, a single kunai jammed into it.

_Replacement jutsu._ She scowled. _Should have known Kakashi wouldn't be that easy to catch. But that fireball caught him off guard. Caught me off guard, too. How can Naruto and Sasuke both pull of powerful techniques like that?_

"Guess he is better than us," She muttered, a little darkly.

"Aren't you going to say thanks?" She looked up toward the voice. Sasuke was perched on the branch above her, still smirking.

"Get down here," She whispered, fervently hoping that Kakashi was nowhere nearby. He jumped down, shoving his hands in his pockets dispassionately. "What other jutsus can you do?" She asked, feeling very exposed just standing on the branch.

He shrugged. "A couple."

She glared at him. "That's not helpful. The only way we're gonna be able to get those bells is if we work together. We can't take him out alone."

He considered her for a moment. "Maybe not you guys. But," He quickly added at her scathing look. "Yeah, I guess teamwork would probably work better."

"Okay." She chewed on her lip, thinking. "We need a distraction, something that'll draw enough of his attention for one of us to spring a surprise attack, and the other to grab the bells."

"Why don't we make Naruto the bait?" He suggested.

"Good idea, he's loud enough to keep Kakashi-sensei's attention for a while." She hesitated, glancing at him thoughtfully. "But I think I have something that could help us," She reached down to her leg holster, pulling out three kunai and holding them up.

He frowned at her. "Kunai? How's that going to help?"

She shrugged, then, without warning, threw them right at her teammate. She didn't wait for him to bat them away, forming a single hand sign with her fingers and closing her eyes. The explosive tags that she'd wrapped around the hilts of the kunai exploded, sending both of them hurtling away from the blast.

Isa hit a tree, sliding down and landing on the ground in the heap. She picked herself up, soot streaked across her face. Sasuke landed opposite her, already on his feet, smiling.

"Explosive tags?" He asked. "When did you figure it out?"

She grinned at him, ignoring the ringing in her ears from the explosion. "I'm not stupid, Kakashi-sensei, it takes more than a transformation jutsu to fool me. Also, Sasuke never calls Naruto anything other than 'Dead-Last' or 'loser', that's what really gave you away."

'Sasuke' shimmered and his image melted away, leaving Kakashi standing in his place. He chuckled. "Can't blame me for trying, right?"

"Sorry about the explosion, but you kind of deserve it after twisting my arm around like that," She said, trying to keep the conversation going. The purpose of the test wasn't to escape from him, but in her current position she'd be lucky if she didn't end up the one tied to the post.

"That's right, I did see you crying right before Sasuke pulled that little fireball stunt. Nice acting."

She flushed. "I guess the fake tears don't work as well on people other than my parents."

He smiled and pulled out his book. "Your move."

She focused her chakra into her feet once more and took off, running until she could feel someone ahead of her. She burst through the foliage and slid into hiding next to Naruto, startling him.

"Isa! Where've you been?" He asked, looking worried.

She winced and motioned for him to lower his voice. "I ran into Kakashi-sensei. He was disguised as Sasuke, it took me a minute to figure it out."

Naruto narrowed his eyes at her. "Wait, then how do I know you're not Kakashi-sensei, too?"

It was actually a smart question. She'd be proud of him later, but right now she didn't have the time. "It's really me, Naruto. I shared my lunch with you yesterday and I promised I'd ask my mom to make an extra bento for you. She said yes, by the way."

"She did?" Naruto grinned, his suspicion immediately clearing. "Awesome! I can't wait, I don't think I've ever been so hungry in my whole life." He wrapped his arms around his stomach, which grumbled loudly.

Isa rifled through the pockets of her jacket, producing the ration bars her father had given her. "Here, eat these. I'm fine, I ate breakfast."

"Really? Man, you're smart, I didn't even think of ignoring Kakashi-sensei." He took the bars gratefully and ate them as quickly as he could. "Okay, so how are we gonna get the bells?" He asked when he was done.

She cast around for an idea in vain. "I don't know," She admitted. "I thought teamwork was the only way we could get the bells, but I told that to Kakashi-sensei when he was disguised as Sasuke, so he'll be expecting an attack from all of us at once."

She sighed and buried her head in her hands, trying desperately to come up with a plan. They needed to get those bells before noon or all three of them were going home. She didn't want to think about who might end up on the post, either.

"Hey, it's okay. Don't freak out about it, we'll figure it out." Naruto said encouragingly. She smiled, despite the irritation bleeding through her. He leaned out from behind the bush they were hiding behind, looking around the empty clearing.

"What is it?" She asked when he pulled at her sleeve. She leaned out of hiding, looking toward whatever he was pointing at. "I don't see anything."

"It's a bento," He said reverently, as if speaking too loudly might scare it off. She squinted, and then spied the bento sitting in front of the memorial stone. "That must be Kakashi-sensei's lunch."

"Naruto, I don't think-"

"I'm gonna go get it," He said, standing up before she could finish her sentence. "Stay here, okay? I'll be right back." He was already jogging out from their cover, Isa lurched forward to hold him back, but her fingers barely brushed against the sleeve of his jacket.

She swallowed hard, watching him make his way toward the bento. He bent down to pick it up, holding it up triumphantly for her to see.

"Look, Isa, it's three bentos! That's enough for all of us!"

She was about to breathe a sigh of relief when a shadow fell over him and he looked up, freezing when he spotted Kakashi standing over him. _Crap._

"That's mine," He said, plucking the bento from Naruto's hands. "It's not nice to steal people's food, you know."

She could see Naruto swallow nervously. "Uh... sorry, Kakashi-sensei." He laughed, rubbing the back of his head, trying to edge away from their instructor.

"Hmm, I think just for that, you get to be the one tied to the post while I eat lunch."

Naruto froze. "What? Why?! Kakashi-sensei, that's not fair! You shouldn't leave your food just sitting around like that, anyway!"

"I'll keep that in mind," Kakashi said. When he looked up, Isa could have sworn he was staring directly at her. "You can come out now, since Naruto's graciously volunteered to be on the post for lunch."

She didn't move, instinct telling her to retreat farther into the forest, and reason telling her to step out of hiding. She knew Kakashi wasn't going to attack her, and he wasn't going to hurt Naruto, but he was effectively her enemy in this situation. It didn't feel right to just waltz out and join him.

He chuckled. "Alright, have it your way. If you want to stay curled up behind that bush, be my guest." She glared at him and slowly, with much second guessing, stood up.

Naruto grinned at her, abashed. "Sorry I got caught, Isa."

"It's not your fault, Naruto," She said, walking over to them. "It was a trap, you were supposed to fall for it."

"Kakashi-sensei, how is Sasuke going to know that it's lunch time?" Naruto asked, looking around the clearing for their grumpy team member.

"I'm sure he'll figure it out eventually," Kakashi replied carelessly. He grabbed Naruto by the collar of his jacket and lead him over to the posts, tying him to the middle one with a rope.

By the time the bell rang, Isa had settled against one of the other posts, her knees drawn up to her chest. She was tired, her whole body ached from being thrown against a tree, and her ears were still ringing from the explosive tags she'd used.

Sasuke appeared from the forest, sitting down with a grumbled sigh. He looked irritated, as he usually did, and his clothes were dirty, suggesting he'd had a run-in with Kakashi, as well.

"Well, you three might be the worst ninja I've ever seen." Kakashi was standing in front of them, arms crossed.

Naruto was immediately spluttering in outrage. "What do you mean?" He demanded.

"I mean, none of you understood the point of the test at all."

"The point was to get the bells," Sasuke said. He might not have been red-faced and stomping his feet like Naruto, but he was glaring daggers at Kakashi nonetheless.

"Wrong. The point was for the three of you to work together as a _team_ to get the bells."

Isa rubbed her forehead wearily, feeling her heart sinking in her chest. "You're saying we might have been able to pass if we'd been able to work together long enough to get the bells."

Kakashi nodded. "Exactly. There were moments that you could have gotten it together, if any of you had been smart enough to realize it. Sasuke, you managed to help Isa with that fireball jutsu, but after that you took off without even trying to regroup. Isa, you used Naruto's clones to your advantage at the very beginning, but you weren't able to assemble your team in order to coordinate an attack. And Naruto, your tendency toward charging in head-first prevented the three of you from organizing an attack that could have beaten me."

"So that's it? We fail? You're sending us back to the Academy?" Sasuke growled, fists clenched.

Kakashi smiled at him, no happiness in the expression. "No, I'm dropping all of you from the program."

Isa's mouth dropped open in shock, and she didn't even try to stop Sasuke when he ran at their sensei, swinging at him in anger.

Kakashi evaded him nimbly, moving so quickly that Isa couldn't track his movements until he was sitting on Sasuke's back, one arm wrenched behind his back. She winced in sympathy, her own shoulder twinging in discomfort.

"All of you lack the ability to work as a team," Kakashi said, the first note of real annoyance in his voice. "If this had been a real mission, you would have gotten yourselves killed. Ninja can't afford to be selfish, that's not the way it works. You work for the team, as a team, or you die."

He stood up and Sasuke scrambled away from him, anger tempered somewhat. Kakashi walked over to the memorial stone, his posture suddenly much more somber than before.

"Do you know what this stone is? Do you know why these names are engraved on it? They are all ninja who are honored as heroes in our village."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Heroes? Well, then I'm gonna get my name put on that stone, and I'll be a hero too!"

Isa shook her head. She knew about the stone, she had family members whose names were carved into the granite.

"Naruto," She said softly. "Those ninja are all K.I.A."

Naruto looked between her and Kakashi, confused. "What's that? It sounds cool!"

"It means Killed In Action," Sasuke muttered. "Those ninja are dead."

"Yes. The names of my closest friends are on this stone," Kakashi said. Nobody moved for a long minute, the clearing silent except for the noise of the river. Then, he straightened, turning around and looking at them sternly. "Alright, I'm giving you one more chance. You have three hours to get the bells from me. You should eat now to build up your strength. Except for Naruto, he doesn't get to eat anything since he tried to steal the bentos earlier. That's his punishment."

He walked past them to leave, but paused. "And if either of you offer him your food, that person will immediately fail. Understand?" He waited until Isa and Sasuke both nodded before walking off, fading slowly into the trees.

Sasuke sat down, grabbing one of the bentos and starting to eat. Isa sat down as well, trying to avoid looking at Naruto, who was still strapped to the post, dejected.

"This sucks," He whined. "I don't get Kakashi-sensei. He talks all about teamwork, and then won't even let us eat as a team. How does that make any sense?"

"He's the one who makes the rules," Sasuke said. "You're tied up because you broke the rules earlier. That's what happens."

Isa stared at her bento, what little appetite she had was lost. "We should have discussed strategies this morning before he got here. I should have thought of that."

"Hey, come on, it's not your fault, Isa. None of us knew what the test was about, you couldn't have planned for it." Naruto said reassuringly.

"I could have tried. Anything would have been better than going in blind like we did." She sighed and ran a hand through her ponytail, fingers catching on tangles.

They were quiet as they ate, all three too tired and sullen to attempt conversation. Isa tried to eat the bento, but couldn't stomach it, pushing it away after a while.

"Look, Naruto, Kakashi-sensei is gone, why don't you have mine?" She offered him the bento.

"Are you sure?" He asked.

She nodded. "Yeah, I'm not hungry."

He smiled, but looked down at his arms, which were bound by the rope. "Um, do you think you could maybe feed it to me? I can't really use my arms."

She laughed and sat up on her knees, grabbing the chopsticks. Sasuke watched them, then sighed and held out his bento.

"Take mine, too." He mumbled. "We can't work as a team if one of us is weak because of hunger."

Isa smiled at him and took the food, placing it on the ground and carefully feeding Naruto a bite.

Suddenly there was an explosion of smoke, and Kakashi appeared. Naruto screamed, wriggling madly in his bindings.

"So, you decide to break the rules again?" Kakashi's voice was thunderous. He formed a series of hand signs and the sky grew dark, lightning rippling through black clouds and wind whipping fiercely, tugging at Isa's clothes and lashing at her face. "What's your excuse?" He asked, glaring at them menacingly.

Isa looked to Sasuke, whose face was set in an obstinate frown. "We broke the rules for the good of the team," He said.

"If teamwork is the most important part of being a ninja, then we couldn't let a member of our team starve." Isa added, shifting into a standard battle stance. She saw Sasuke do the same.

"Yeah!" Naruto exclaimed, still trying to maneuver his way out of the rope. "We're a team! We're in this together or not at all!"

"Together or not at all?" Kakashi repeated. They stared him down, feet planted firmly on the ground, unwilling to give way. Abruptly, the sky cleared and he leaned forward, smiling. "You pass."

They gaped at him.

"What?" Naruto said.

"You pass," He said again.

Isa held up her hands in confusion. "Wait, what do you mean we pass?"

"You did it. You thought for yourselves. You're the first squad that's ever done it. In the ninja world those who break the rules are scum, that's true, but those who abandon their friends are worse than scum." He paused, staring pensively at the sky. "You've all passed. Squad Seven starts their first mission tomorrow."

Isa felt herself smile involuntarily, too shocked to do anything more than stand there happily. Naruto looked like he was about to cry.

"I knew you didn't really hate us, Kakashi-sensei." He said, sniffling.

Kakashi smiled. "You _are_ starting to grow on me, I'll admit."

* * *

A/N: I know I said that the next chapter would be posted early next week, but I've had more time to write than I thought I would, so you guys get Chapter 2 early. Read, favorite, follow, review, etc. Do your thing, hope you enjoy!


	3. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters. Isa Yamanaka and any other OC's are mine._

* * *

Isa didn't like D-rank missions. She'd decided that after the third hour of searching for Madam Shijimi's runaway cat. Even Naruto seemed less enthusiastic than normal, despite Kakashi's warning to take the mission seriously.

They'd been equipped with wireless radios and sent out after the cat, and that had been the last they'd seen of Kakashi. Isa guessed he was probably relaxing somewhere, reading his book. She rubbed her forehead in annoyance, redirecting her course when Naruto chimed in over the radio.

It took another hour to locate the cat, and an additional half-hour to actually capture it. The feline was fast, and desperate; both Sasuke and Isa adamantly refused to carry it back to the mission desk, leaving Naruto to struggle with it. He almost lost it a few times, and by the time they reached the Academy, his whole face was littered in claw marks.

Kakashi met them at the doors. "Finally found the cat? Great."

_Yeah, no thanks to you_, Isa thought darkly. "Are you actually going to participate in our missions, Kakashi-sensei?" She asked.

He smiled, hands in his pockets. "I didn't think genin needed help catching a cat." She grumbled, admittedly a little embarrassed that it had taken them four hours to catch a housecat.

They traipsed upstairs and reported to the mission desk, where Madam Shijimi was waiting. She squealed when she saw her cat, taking it from Naruto, who sighed in relief.

"Oh, Tora, my baby!" She snuggled the cat to her chest, squeezing it tightly. The cat looked like it was about to explode. "Thank you so much!" She smiled at them, tears in her eyes, and left, her cat yowling pitifully.

The Third Hokage laughed softly, fingers laced in front of him. "I'm sure we'll see her again before too long," He said.

"Alright, old man, are you gonna give us a real mission now?" Naruto asked.

The Hokage glanced at the list of available missions. "Well, we have several open missions. You can babysit the Chief Counselor's child, go grocery shopping with his wife, or pick potatoes at a farm near the edge of the village."

Naruto groaned. "Come on, enough of this dumb kid stuff already! I want a real mission!"

Isa traded a look with Sasuke and shrugged. Realistically, she doubted that genin squads got sent on important missions very often, especially less than a week after being promoted. But they'd spent the last three days pulling weeds, painting fences, and chasing a cat. She was bored.

"Naruto, you have less than a week of experience as a ninja," Iruka said from his seat next to the Hokage. "There's a reason new genin only get sent on D-rank missions. You can't handle something bigger than that yet."

"Yeah, right. We can handle it! We've been training and we've been doing missions and we passed Kakashi-sensei's stupid test. Give us a real mission and we'll prove that we're good enough to do it!" Naruto exclaimed.

Kakashi sighed and laid a hand on his head, none too gently. "Naruto, be quiet."

The Hokage was smiling at them. "You want a real mission, huh? You want to prove you're a real ninja? Fine. I'll give you a C-ranked mission."

All three of the genin perked up at that. "Really? What will we be doing?" Naruto asked excitedly.

"You'll be bodyguards on a journey."

Naruto pumped his fist in the air. "Sweet! Who are we guarding? A princess?"

"A journey to where, Lord Hokage?" Isa asked, ignoring Naruto's continuous stream of speculation.

"Why don't we bring in the client and let him explain?" The Hokage nodded to one of the ninja standing at the back of the room, and he opened the door to an adjacent waiting room. An old man holding a bottle of sake walked out, sizing them up with a skeptical look on his face.

"I'm supposed to believe that you're ninja? You're just a bunch of little kids." He took a generous swig of his sake.

"Hey, watch who you're calling little kids!" Naruto said, glaring at the man.

"You can't honestly expect me to be safe when my bodyguards are half my height," The man grouched.

"Shut up, we're ninja, you can't talk to us like that!" Naruto shouted.

Kakashi grabbed Naruto's shoulder, restraining him. "Naruto, you can't tell the client to shut up. Stop talking or we're taking the babysitting mission." Naruto immediately shut his mouth.

The man took another swig of sake before speaking. "My name is Tazuna, I'm a master bridge-builder, and I need you to escort me back to my country. I'm building a bridge there, and I need your protection during the journey."

"Where do you live, sir?" Isa asked him, curious. There were many countries surrounding the Land of Fire, but if a bridge was involved, she assumed they would be heading either south or east, toward the sea.

"The Land of Waves," He replied.

She pursed her lips and nodded. She hadn't heard of the Land of Waves, so it must have been a small country. _I don't care where we go, anything's better than another D-rank_, she thought.

"Alright, guys, if we're going to do this we need to meet at the gates bright and early tomorrow morning." Kakashi said, sounding entirely unenthusiastic. "Pack for a long trip."

"Oh, man, this is gonna be awesome! I gotta go home and pack!" Naruto paused, suddenly thoughtful. "What do I need to bring? I have no idea."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "How do you not know what to bring on a mission?"

Naruto shrugged. "Whatever, I'm sure I'll figure it out."

Isa bit her lip. "We could meet up later, if you want? And figure out what you need."

He stared at her. "We could?"

"Yeah, I need to go home first and tell my mom what's happening, but you can come over later and we can go shopping if we need to. Um, you can come, too, Sasuke, if you want."

Sasuke looked vaguely uncomfortable, shoving his hands in his pockets and shrugging.

"That sounds like a great idea," Kakashi said, barely looking up from his book, which was once again in his hand. "Good team-building exercise. Have fun." He vanished in a puff of smoke.

"Alright, yeah, this is gonna be great!" Naruto laughed, so happy that Isa couldn't help but smile. "I gotta go home and get all my stuff. Wait, where do you live?"

She gave him directions and he grinned, giving her a thumbs up. "Okay, cool. See you later, Isa!"

She waved goodbye to him and started walking toward the door, then stopped, waiting for Sasuke to join her.

"You know, you really don't have to come if you don't want to, Sasuke. I know you and Naruto don't get along," She said. "It might be fun to get packed up as a team, though. For our first real mission."

He was frowning at the ground as they walked. "Maybe."

She smiled warmly. "I'll see you later, then." He didn't look entirely convinced. _I hope he shows up,_ she thought. _He spends so much time by himself, I don't think he even knows how to hang out with people any more_. She walked at a leisurely pace, enjoying the sunshine. When she passed the Yamanaka flower shop, she peered inside, spotting Ino behind the cash register.

She turned and went inside, waving cheerfully at her sister, whose bored expression quickly turned to one of relief.

"You're finally done? You guys are so busy! We haven't even done any training yet, we just keep meeting up and laying around for a few hours." Ino said, though she didn't seem particularly upset about it.

Isa joined her behind the counter. "Yeah, well, after that survival test Naruto's been begging for new missions every single day. I'm so tired," She said. Which was true, she was still sore from the survival test three days earlier, and she'd spent four hours chasing a cat that morning, which was enough to wear anyone out.

"Oh yeah, the survival test. Tell me what Sasuke did, again."

Isa groaned. "I already told you!"

"I know, but I want to hear it again." Ino said pleadingly.

Isa plucked a dead leaf off of one of the azaleas. "I didn't really see him that much. He kind of ran off on his own at the very beginning, and then showed up and blew a fireball at Kakashi-sensei, and then he was gone again."

Ino sighed dreamily. "So he's basically your hero, right? Because he saved you?"

"I guess so. I don't now how I would have gotten away from Kakashi-sensei if Sasuke hadn't used that fireball jutsu, so he did sort of save me. What about you? Did your team have a test?"

Ino shook her head. "No, Asuma-sensei said it was too much work to test us. Choji and I trained a little, but that was pretty much it."

"You're lucky. I'm sore all over, did you see how dirty I was when I got home?" Isa wrinkled her nose at the memory. She'd traipsed home the day before, utterly exhausted, to be greeted by Ino and her mother, who had gasped when Isa showed up with dirt and soot smudged across her face.

Ino giggled. "You were a mess."

"I had to take an hour long shower and I still didn't feel clean," Isa grumbled.

"It is kind of your fault, though, for using those explosive tags when you were so close to them. That's why you had soot all over. Dad actually looked a little mad about that," Ino said.

Isa pulled a freesia out of a bouquet and twirled it in her fingers. "It was a smart move, it was just a little dangerous. Dad gave me a lecture on safety after I told him."

"Good," Ino said. Isa glanced at her, confused. "Well, I don't want you to go out and get hurt on some mission. We're sisters, we gotta stick together. Besides, I need you around to keep me sane."

Isa smiled, touched. It wasn't uncommon for Ino to share her feelings; in fact, both girls were more than comfortable telling people how they felt, but they didn't often admit just how much they needed each other.

She looped an arm around Ino's neck, their heads together. "Don't worry, you'll always have me. I'm not going anywhere."

They stayed like that, leaning against each other contentedly. After a minute, Ino smiled. "You're so cheesy."

"I am not!" Isa protested, laughing. "Ino, don't hide from your feelings!"

Ino snorted and shook off Isa's arm, grabbing a bouquet and carrying it to the front of the shop. She placed it in the display window, eying it with a hand on her chin when the door opened and Sakura walked inside.

Isa took one look at their friend and knew something was wrong. Sakura looked tired, her eyes puffy as if she'd been crying.

She twisted her fingers together nervously. "H-hey, guys," She said, voice very small. Isa hurried over, concern all over her face. Even Ino looked worried; the fact that she and Sakura were sworn rivals didn't seem to matter at that moment.

"Sakura, what's wrong?" Isa asked, laying a comforting hand on Sakura's arm.

Her lip trembled. "I got cut from the program," She mumbled, staring at her feet.

"What?! Like, sent back to the Academy?" Ino asked, trading a shocked look with her sister.

Sakura nodded. "Yeah. Ayume-sensei said that we weren't ready, that she didn't want us to get ourselves killed because we weren't strong enough." She took a deep, shaky breath and looked at them miserably. "I don't know what to do."

"Oh, Sakura, it's okay," Isa said, pulling Sakura into a hug. "You can try again next year!"

Sakura hiccuped, fighting the tears threatening to spill down her face. "But what if I'm still not strong enough? What if I'm never strong enough?"

Ino frowned at her. "What are you talking about? One person decides you're not good enough so you just give up? Is that how it works? Sakura, you've tried so hard to get this far, you can't just throw it all away because of one stupid person."

Sakura looked at her with watery eyes. "But what if Ayume-sensei was right?"

Ino scoffed. "She's not. She clearly doesn't know what she's talking about."

"Look, Sakura, is there anything we can do? We can try to talk to your sensei for you, or even Iruka-sensei." Isa said, rubbing Sakura's back gently.

She sniffled and shook her head. "I don't think so. I didn't want to bother you guys, but I couldn't stay at home. My parents keep treating me like I'm some weak little girl, like I might break if they're not careful."

"They don't understand," Isa said. "They're not ninja. Don't blame them. And you can come to us whenever you want, we're always here for you."

Ino nodded, smiling. "Come on, let's go get you cleaned up. Then we can go shopping and have a girl's night."

Isa shifted so that her arm was around Sakura's shoulders and, after quickly locking up the shop, lead her back to the Yamanaka house.

"Girls? You're home already?" Hanako called from upstairs when they closed the front door behind them.

"Yeah, mom, it's us," Ino replied. "Sakura's here, too."

"Hi, Mrs. Yamanaka," Sakura said, sounding slightly less weepy than she had before.

Their mother appeared at the top of the stairs, and, seeing Sakura's tear-stained face, frowned. "Oh, Sakura, what's wrong?" She set down a basket of laundry and came down the stairs, smoothing Sakura's hair gently.

Sakura smiled weakly. "I'm just having a bad day, that's all."

"Her team didn't make it," Isa said quietly. "She has to go back to the Academy."

Hanako's face fell. Sakura had been a regular visitor at the Yamanaka's for such a long time that she had become something of a surrogate daughter, and Hanako cared deeply for her, just as she did her own children.

"Sakura, I'm so sorry, dear. Come here, I'll make you some tea." She brought Sakura into the kitchen and sat her down, setting a kettle on the stove. Ino went upstairs, presumably to retrieve her stash of makeup so they could, as she put it, 'fix up' Sakura.

They were carefully applying mascara in the bathroom mirror, all three jostling for enough space to see their reflections, when there was a knock on the door.

Suddenly Isa remembered her teammates and their earlier plan. She'd completely forgotten about them, and their mission, once Sakura had shown up.

She ran down the stairs, jogging to the front door. "Don't worry, mom, I got it!" She yelled, opening the door to a grinning Naruto and a slightly-less-sullen-than-he-could-be Sasuke. "Hey, guys, come in!" They hesitated before both slipping out of their shoes and stepping inside.

"Isa, who is it?" Hanako asked, appearing from in the kitchen and blinking in surprise at the sight of two extra children in her foyer.

Isa laughed apologetically. "I forgot to tell you, mom, I'm sorry. I told them they could come over so we could pack. We, uh, we have a C-rank mission tomorrow and we're gonna be gone for a little while. I probably should have told you earlier."

It was a testament to Hanako's supreme self-control that she didn't drag Isa away that very moment and interrogate her. Instead, she just smiled graciously at the boys.

"Dear, we're going to have a talk with your father later, but you boys can come right in. If I had known you were coming, I would have made something to eat, but I just finished up some tea, if you'd like some."

Isa looked at her teammates expectantly. They both looked extremely awkward. _They don't know what to do_, she realized. _I forgot they're both orphans, they've probably been on their own for so long that they don't know how to act around parents. _She smiled at them encouragingly.

Ino appeared at the top of the stairs. "Who is it, Isa?" She asked.

"Oh! Um, Naruto and Sasuke came over so we can pack for our mission together," Isa said, desperately hoping that Ino could contain herself. Sasuke already looked like he was prepared for an attack, his shoulders hunched and face pinched.

Ino looked like she'd just had the breath knocked out of her. "Sasuke's here? And Naruto? That's... cool. Yeah, that's cool. Okay, well, I'm just gonna go back and-" She spun and sprinted back to the bathroom. Isa could hear the sound of muffled, high-pitched conversation in what she assumed was both Ino and Sakura having a mental breakdown over this turn of events.

"Sorry," She said, shrugging at Sasuke. "She's really not that bad normally. Do you guys want some tea?"

Naruto and Sasuke glanced at each other, then both nodded. She lead them to the kitchen, where her mother handed them cups of steaming hot tea.

Seeing Naruto and Sasuke sitting in her kitchen sipping tea was such a strangely domestic image that Isa started giggling, then abruptly choked on her tea.

"Isa," Hanako raised an eyebrow at her. "Are you okay?"

Isa nodded through a coughing fit, caught between laughing and choking. Ino and Sakura toppled down the stairs, righting themselves and laughing breezily. They stopped when they spotted Isa bent over in the kitchen, coughing violently.

"What are you doing?" Ino asked.

Sakura was blushing, but she frowned at her friend. "Isa?"

"I'm fine, I'm just choking." Isa took a deep breath and forced herself to stop laughing. It was an attempt made in vain, because when she looked at Naruto and Sasuke's nonplussed looks, she dissolved into giggles again.

Hanako shook her head. "Okay, well, if you need me I'll be out on the porch reading. Try not to die, dear." She patted Isa on the back as she left the room.

It took Isa another minute to compose herself, and by that time Ino and Sakura had both grabbed their own cups and were sipping their tea daintily, trying to stare subtly at Sasuke.

"Isa, are you sure you're alright?" Naruto asked her, genuinely concerned.

She nodded, face still slightly pink from lack of air. "The tea was just really hot, that's all." Sasuke snorted and Naruto didn't look at all convinced. "So, do you guys know what stuff you already have?"

Naruto nodded. "I think I have everything I need." He opened the pack he'd been carrying on his back, letting her look through it.

"Sasuke?" She asked. He handed her his own pack, which was stocked similarly to Naruto's. She sat back and chewed on her lip in thought. "I don't know what I have, I didn't get a chance to look, but I probably don't need a whole bunch. Let me go check really fast."

She hurried up the stairs, grabbing the pack in her room and rooting around for her supplies. She found them stacked under her bed and tossed them into the pack, rejoining her friends.

Ino was, to her surprise, talking to Naruto, and Sasuke looked happy to be ignored. Sakura was laughing at something Ino had said, and Isa felt a twinge of regret for inadvertently ruining her "girl's night". She didn't look upset, though, and smiled when Isa sat down.

"The only thing I need is a new whetstone and a new shirt. My old one got all torn up during Kakashi-sensei's test."

"Are you guys going shopping?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah, we're gonna go out and grab some stuff. Do you two want to come?" Isa asked. Ino and Sakura didn't even look at each other before nodding.

They said a quick goodbye to their mother, who seemed resigned to letting them run wild for the rest of the day. _I'm in for it when dad gets home, though, _Isa thought. The knowledge wasn't enough to keep her down for long, and soon she was laughing brightly, walking down main street with her friends.

Because there were so many shinobi in Konoha, ninja supply stores weren't hard to come by, and they ducked into the first one they passed. The five of them scattered through the store, Ino and Sakura gravitating to the clothes racks, while Sasuke and Naruto both seemed transfixed by the glass cabinets full of weaponry.

Isa was perusing a selection of whetstones when the door chimed, and in walked Shikamaru and Choji. She looked up and waved at them.

"What are you guys doing here?" She asked. They drifted over to her, Shikamaru's hands buried in his pockets, and Choji working through a bag of chips.

"Escaping our parents," Shikamaru said. "They're next door drinking."

Choji nodded. "We had to get out of there, they're talking about the 'good old days'."

Isa giggled. The reigning patriarchs of the Nana, Akimichi, and Yamanaka clans were fond of getting together and reminiscing about their youth. It was often accompanied by a significant amount of alcohol, and Isa knew through personal experience that being dragged along for those events was painfully boring.

"Why are you here, anyway?" Shikamaru asked, glancing around at the others. Ino and Sakura's arms were full of clothing, and they were making their way to the dressing rooms, chatting cheerfully. Sasuke was examining a pack of kunai, and Naruto was nowhere to be seen.

"We're stocking up for our mission. Naruto convinced the Hokage to give us a C-rank." She said, grinning proudly. Both boys looked impressed.

"Yeah, I did! Believe it!" Naruto appeared from behind a nearby aisle, what appeared to be a maroon cape in his hands. "Hey, Isa, should I get this?" He asked her, holding up the cape.

"Do you really think red goes with orange and blue?" She asked him, laughing.

Naruto looked at the cape and then vanished back around the corner. "You're right, I'll get a green one instead."

_Nobody ever said ninja had to have good fashion sense, _Isa thought, shaking her head.

"Man, now Ino's gonna be on my ass about getting a C-rank, too." Shikamaru groaned.

Isa picked up a whetstone and moved toward the clothing racks. "At least it's better than chasing someone's lost cat," She said. Shikamaru snorted.

"Isa, get this!" Ino leaned out of the dressing room, brandishing a shirt. She spotted Shikamaru and Choji and glared at them. "Hey, you two, tomorrow we're getting a real mission! No more laying around doing nothing!"

Shikamaru sighed deeply. "You're so predictable. It's such a drag."

"I'm not predictable, I'm awesome, be quiet." Ino stuck her tongue out at her teammate childishly.

Isa took the shirt she was holding. "Did it fit you?" She asked Ino.

"Yeah, it looked great. You should get it." Ino said, disappearing back into the dressing room.

"You're not going to try it on?" Naruto asked. He was standing in front of a long mirror, admiring the green cape that was slung around his shoulders.

She shook her head. "That's the best part about being a twin, what fits her fits me, too."

"It'd be so weird having a twin," He said. "I mean, you guys are basically the same person. Sort of."

Isa grinned. "I'm not sure the world could handle two Naruto's."

He laughed. "Yeah, you're right. Besides, then I'd have to compete against myself to become Hokage."

Sakura emerged from her dressing room in a dark blue kimono, considering herself in the mirror with her hands on her hips.

Naruto turned bright red. "Wow, Sakura, you look great!" He said. She looked at him, surprised.

"Um, thanks, Naruto."

He grinned, running a hand through his hair, blushing fiercely. Shikamaru, who was leaning against the wall next to Isa, rolled his eyes.

"What do you think?" Sakura asked, facing Isa, glancing at Sasuke, who was standing nearby, looking at arm warmers. Why he wore those things, Isa would never know.

She hummed, lips pursed thoughtfully. "I like it. It really brings out your hair. When are you gonna wear it, though?"

Sakura tugged at the kimono self-consciously. "Well, I just thought I should get some new clothes if I'm going back to the Academy."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, looking between Sakura and Isa with a frown. "You graduated already, why would you go back?"

Sakura flushed and didn't reply. Sympathy welled up in Isa's chest.

"Her team didn't make genin. Her sensei said they weren't ready. But going back to the Academy won't be that bad," She said, reaching out and squeezing her friend's hand. "You'll have to spend another year training, but next year you'll pass for sure!"

"That's so stupid! Why would they cut you? You're a great ninja!" Naruto exclaimed.

Sakura managed to smile. "At least I'll have Itsuki and Kouta with me again," She said.

"There you go," Isa hugged her tightly. "Gotta look at the bright side!"

Ino pulled open the curtain of her dressing room, stepping out in an elaborate red ensemble. "Your sensei is just lucky we haven't run into her around town, because I'd give her a piece of my mind."

Isa nodded emphatically. "She'd better watch out," She said, laughing when Sakura looked at them skeptically.

"I'd pay to see you two beat up a jonin," Shikamaru drawled, grinning lazily.

"You know we would, too," Ino said.

"That's what friends are for," Isa agreed. "By the way, Ino, if you buy that outfit mom and dad will kill you."

Ino tossed her hair huffily. "But it looks so good on me!"

"Yeah, and enemies will really appreciate being able to see you from a mile away," Shikamaru added.

"Ugh, fine." Ino marched back into the dressing room to change.

Sasuke came over, holding a new set of kunai in his hands. "Why are you getting a cape, loser?" He asked Naruto.

"Because it looks cool," Naruto replied, with a 'duh' expression on his face. "And don't call me a loser, I'm gonna be the next Hokage!"

Immediately, Shikamaru, Sakura, and Sasuke groaned.

"You need to chill out," Choji advised him sagely, pointing at him with his almost-empty chip bag.

"You have no idea," Sasuke muttered.

Isa laughed, throwing an arm around Shikamaru's shoulders companionably. "Aw, look at us being friends. Isn't this great?"

"Yeah, it's super fun," Shikamaru said, voice so dry that even Sasuke almost cracked a smile.

They paid for their purchases and left the store, the seven of them wandering through town without a destination. They wound up sitting on a bridge, feet dangling over the water beneath them.

Sakura was sitting next to Isa, and she leaned her head on the blonde girl's shoulder. "Thanks for this. You too, Ino. I was ready to give up on being a ninja, but I think I'm gonna go back to the Academy. It's just another year, after all."

Isa smiled at her. "Whatever happens, you've got us. Everything's gonna be okay."

"Oh, guys, do you wanna see my super special jutsu?" Naruto asked, jumping up. He formed a hand sign and shouted, "Sexy Jutsu!"

In an explosion of smoke, there was a naked, winking blonde girl where Naruto had been. There was a general outcry of horror; Choji was laughing so hard he was going red, and Sakura was punching Naruto in the face.

Isa was laughing, rolling onto her back and holding her stomach as Naruto weakly tried to fend off Sakura's attacks. She looked up at the sky, painted orange and pink by the setting sun, and wiped away the tears of laughter in her eyes.

* * *

A/N: Aaaaaand here's Chapter 3! I'd like to thank Tox and Clauds, who are my amazing beta readers. They're beautiful and perfect and I love them. I'm trying to space out the updates, and I've been writing the chapters in advance, so I've got a backlog of updates, but I'm loving this story so much that I'm currently four chapters ahead of what's been published, so I'm putting this one up to kind of catch up a little bit. Otherwise I'm gonna end up writing Chapter 15 while you guys have only gotten up to Chapter 6 or something. Anyway, hope you enjoy, drop a review or a favorite or a follow if you like, and have a fantastic day! :)


	4. Chapter 4

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters. Isa Yamanaka and any other OC's are mine._

* * *

The next day dawned bright and cloudless, a perfect day for traveling. Team Seven met up at the front gates of Konoha, Tazuna arriving shortly after they did. Isa was convinced it was a miracle that Kakashi managed to show up on time.

They set out due east, taking the well-traveled road to the port city. From there, they would continue south along the coastline, and then cross over to the Land of Waves by boat.

Normally, they would have been able to make the trip in two, maybe three days, but Tazuna couldn't travel as fast as ninja could, so they had to walk at his pace.

It allowed for a lot of time to look around. Isa had never been outside of Konoha, and even though the forest here looked the same as the forest in the village, she still looked around as if she'd stepped into another world.

When they encountered a field of wildflowers, she gasped, eyes going wide. She reached out, pulling at Kakashi's sleeve. He stopped, looking up from his book to see her standing with a hand to her mouth, face shining.

"Kakashi-sensei, it's so pretty." She said reverently, watching butterflies flit among the wildflowers. He chuckled, watching her pick a small blue flower and tuck it behind her ear.

"We can't stop," Kakashi said, tone gentle. She nodded and stared at the field for a long minute, committing the sight to memory.

"Okay," She looked at him and smiled. "We can stop on the way back, I'll pick enough flowers for everybody." She turned, jogging to catch up with her teammates, falling into step beside Sasuke.

He glanced at her. "Where'd you get the flower?" He asked.

"I picked it," She said. "It's a periwinkle. Do you know what a periwinkle stands for?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Flowers have meanings?"

She giggled. "Of course they do. Everything has a meaning, doesn't it? A periwinkle stands for friendship."

"Do you know what all the flowers mean?" He asked.

"No, there's too many to know all of them. But my family owns a flower shop, so you kind of pick it up after a while. Plus, our clan symbol is a flower."

"It is?" He looked surprised.

She nodded. "Our symbol is the bush clover, it means 'positive love'."

He watched her for a minute with a thoughtful look on his face, then shook his head, snorting. "You're a nerd," He said.

She laughed, shoving him playfully. They walked in comfortable silence, the rest of the day slipping by in a blur of trees and sunshine. At the very least, their slow pace allowed them plenty of time to practice their Manji Formation. It was a protective formation taught at the Academy, involving three shinobi standing at the front and both sides of a target in order to provide the maximum amount of protection.

For most of the day, Naruto was on point, marching up in front, while Sasuke and Isa walked alongside Tazuna, occasionally trading sides. Kakashi brought up the back, face buried in his book.

When they stopped for the night, they set up camp in a little nook, concealed by shrubbery. Naruto was picked to go hunting, his shadow clone technique allowing him to cover far more ground than the others could. Sasuke was in charge of setting up the camp protection, rigging a veritable minefield of traps through the trees surrounding them. Isa started a campfire and laid out their sleeping mats.

Dinner that night consisted of a host of rabbits Naruto had caught, along with some of the ration bars they'd brought. Ration bars weren't particularly appetizing, but they were a good source of nutrients, and the rabbit was enough to offset the dry bars.

They set up a night watch schedule, doused the fire, and went to sleep. Sasuke had the first watch, followed by Naruto, which left Isa with the dawn watch. The camp was peaceful when she awoke, shrouded in darkness, the sky just barely starting to lighten. She stood up and stretched as Naruto curled up on his sleeping mat, asleep in seconds.

Her watch passed quietly and without incident. By the time the others began to stir, she had already rolled up her sleeping mat and was perched on top of a nearby rock, munching on a ration bar. They disassembled camp quickly, replacing the grass they'd cut away for the firepit and erasing all traces of their presence.

Tazuna walked slower than he had the day before, still drowsy and sore from sleeping on the hard ground all night, but they made decent time nonetheless. They spotted the port city early on the third day, but instead of entering the city, they bypassed it entirely, veering off on a less-traveled road that lead them south.

They'd been walking for hours and Isa was kicking at pebbles mindlessly, humming a tune. One of the pebbles bounced away from her and landed in a puddle, the reflection of the sky rippling in the water. She frowned. _That's weird, there hasn't been any rain lately._ She glanced at Kakashi, who met her gaze, a warning look in his eye, despite his relaxed posture.

She took a deep breath, suddenly nervous. They hadn't encountered any trouble on the road so far, and she'd begun to wonder why Tazuna had requested protection at all. But the puddle didn't feel right, it didn't make sense. She shook out her hands, trying to remember every lesson she'd ever had on fighting.

And then there were two men exploding from the puddle, appearing as if they were made out of the water itself. They struck out with barbed chains, wrapping them around Kakashi's body. With a vicious pull, Kakashi was torn to shreds.

Isa froze. She wanted to scream, could feel it stuck in her throat, but she couldn't make a sound. A kunai trembled in her hand.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto yelled, leaping toward what was left of their teacher. The two men were behind him in an instant, laughing maliciously.

"Now it's your turn, kid," They said, their chains moving toward Naruto as if they had a mind of their own. Naruto ducked the chains, kunai appearing in his hand. He rolled away and flung the kunai, managing to hit at least one of the men.

Suddenly, Sasuke was in the air, pinning the chains to a tree with a shuriken. His feet barely touched the ground before he was up again, kicking at their attackers, sending them hurling backward and snapping their chains cleanly.

One of them was faster to recover, and he began moving toward Isa and Tazuna, grinning widely. She swallowed hard and positioned herself in front of Tazuna, her kunai raised.

"Stay behind me," She ordered tersely. Tazuna nodded, clearly terrified. The man advanced on them, moving quickly. She batted away his claw-like arm, turning and ramming her elbow into his sternum before plunging her hand downward, burying her kunai in his gut.

He staggered away from her, right into the waiting arm of Kakashi. "Hi, guys," He said drolly, holding one man in each hand.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Showoff."

Isa glanced at what had been a pile of blood and bones to see a pile of wood instead. _Replacement jutsu,_ she thought.

Naruto looked dumbfounded. "But, Kakashi-sensei, you were dead."

Kakashi glanced at him. "The best way to avoid a trap is to set a better one," He said. "You three did well, I'm impressed."

Isa felt her chest swell with pride, ignoring the blood dripping from her hand. _Not mine, at least,_ she thought, wiping it off on her shorts.

"Kakashi-sensei, who are these guys?" She asked, peering at them. They were wearing strange outfits, and their forehead protectors had four wavy lines on them.

Kakashi didn't reply immediately, hauling the ninja over to a tree, where he tied them up. "They're chunin from the Village Hidden in the Mist," He said.

"How did you know about our ambush?" One of the ninja asked, glaring at them.

"Oh, I don't know, why don't you ask Isa?" Kakashi looked at her, waiting for an answer.

She crossed her arms and frowned at the enemy ninja. "There was a puddle on the side of the road," She replied simply. "It's a clear day, and it hasn't rained in a while. It wouldn't have made sense even without the weird feeling it gave me."

"Weird feeling?" One of the ninja scoffed. "What are you, some kind of sensor type?"

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Yes."

"What?" Naruto looked between Kakashi and Isa in confusion. "What's he talking about?"

"Sensor types have the ability to sense chakra. Powerful ones are able to feel it when it's used, both it's immediate and residual effects, as well as sense and track people who have chakra of their own." Kakashi explained. "I believe it runs in your family, doesn't it?" He asked her.

She nodded. "It varies by person, but most of us can sense chakra to some degree."

Naruto's eyes were wide. "That's so cool! I didn't know you could do that!"

One of the Mist ninja cursed. "Damn clan bloodlimits. Should have just killed the old man and been done with it."

"It's not a bloodlimit. If you were a halfway decent ninja, you'd know that." Isa said sourly. "You'd also know that if you'd gone straight for Tazuna you would have been tied up that much quicker."

"That's why you hid, isn't it?" Sasuke said, looking at Kakashi. "You removed yourself from the fight and waited until one of them revealed who they were here for. Us, or Tazuna."

Kakashi nodded. "Exactly. I needed to know who their target was." He looked at Tazuna, who balked defensively.

"What do you mean?" He demanded, taking a reflexive step back.

"I needed to know if they were ninja attacking ninja, or ninja attacking the master bridge-builder," Kakashi said. "When you put in your request, you asked for standard protection. That covers bandits and highwaymen, not ninja. If we had known there were ninja hunting you, it would have been a B-rank mission or higher, and you would have had to pay accordingly. Whatever your reasons may be, lying to us is unacceptable." Tazuna paled.

"So do we go back?" Isa asked. A genin squad would never have been sent out on a B-rank mission, no matter how much Naruto had begged. They were officially out of their league.

Naruto shook his head, determination settling into his eyes. "No way. We took this mission, it's our job to protect this guy, and we're going to do it. We're ninja, we never go back on our word! I promise you, old man, we're going to make sure your bridge gets built!" He grinned. "I just hope whoever they send next is stronger than these guys, because otherwise I'm gonna get really bored."

Kakashi sighed. "I guess we can keep going. Don't get too excited, though, Naruto. And if anyone else comes along, leave it to me."

"Aw, man! But I wanna fight the bad guys, too!" Naruto whined. "We all did good this time, right? We can handle it!"

"Yes, the three of you did well, considering this was your first real battle. But next time, you _will_ stay out of it. Your job is to protect Tazuna, leave the fighting to me." Kakashi fixed him with a level stare until Naruto's defiant expression wilted and he groaned.

"Fine. Geez, Kakashi-sensei, you ruin all the fun!" He laced his hands behind his head and set off, leaving the two ninja tied to the tree.

Isa spared a final glance for them, smirking at the man she'd stabbed, her kunai still jutting out of his stomach. "Hope you don't bleed out any time soon," She said. He snarled at her.

Kakashi chuckled. "Come on, let's go before Naruto gets lost." He grabbed her shoulder gently and lead her off, rejoining Naruto, who was waiting impatiently.

"Those guys were a waste of time," He grumbled.

"I'm surprised you didn't get scared and freeze up, loser." Sasuke said, smirking.

"Shut up, I did just as good as you did!" Naruto retorted.

"Yeah, you all did great," Kakashi said. Isa smiled at his half-hearted attempt to stop their bickering. "Now be quiet, you guys don't want to walk into another attack because you were arguing, do you?"

That shut them up for a while, long enough for them to resume their earlier formation, this time much more alert than before. Staying that aware for a long time was exhausting, though, and they stopped early, ensuring that their camp was as safe as possible before setting up watch for the night.

The two Mist ninja didn't reappear, and they reached a small dock by mid-morning the next day. The weather was overcast, fog hanging so thickly that Isa couldn't see more than ten feet off of shore. She stood at the edge of the water, the waves barely lapping against her sandals.

"Is this the first time you've seen the ocean?" Tazuna asked her.

She jumped, startled. Noise carried strangely in the fog, and he'd been very quiet ever since being attacked, barely speaking to anyone at all. She smiled at him uncertainly. "Yes, sir. I've read about it, but it's a lot bigger than I thought it would be. And it's... smellier."

Tazuna actually laughed at that. "You'll get used to it," He assured her.

There was a man waiting for them at the dock. He looked around nervously before loading them onto his boat, paddling slowly. After a while, the bridge appeared, slowly revealed through the thick fog.

"Wow," Isa breathed, staring up at it. "I've never seen a bridge this big before." It was huge, their small boat dwarfed in comparison.

"Tazuna," Kakashi said, keeping his voice quiet. "Before we reach the shore, I need to know about the men who are after you. Specifically, _why_ they're after you. If you don't tell us, I'm afraid I'll have to end this mission when we drop you off at the pier."

Tazuna sighed. "I guess now's as good a time to tell you as any. The man behind the attack is known as Gato. He's the leader of a very powerful company, but in addition to ruthlessly taking over businesses, he also secretly sells drugs and contraband. He controls the black market, and he employs gangs and ninja to do so.

"He set his sight on the Land of Waves one year ago. He used his wealth to take over the economy, and anyone who stood in his way disappeared. He controls the sea, and the man who controls the sea, controls the island. This bridge will break that control by joining our island to the mainland, but he's determined to make sure it's never finished."

"So those guys on the road were working for Gato?" Sasuke asked. Tazuna nodded somberly.

"I don't get it, though. Why would you hide that from us?" Isa asked, frowning, not unkindly, at the elderly man. "Why didn't you just tell us that right from the beginning? If this Gato guy is really as bad as you say, why are you trusting your protection to a bunch of genin?"

Tazuna didn't meet her eyes, staring sadly into the distance. "The Land of Waves is a very poor island. Even our nobles barely have any money left. Gato has wrung us dry, and the people working on the bridge are common folk. They can't afford an A or B-ranked mission." He shook his head. "If you end this mission when you reach the shore, there will be no bridge, I'll be murdered before I reach home."

Isa bit her lip unhappily. _We can't just leave him here, that's too cruel, even if he did lie to us_, she thought.

"But don't let that sway you, you have to do what you think is right," Tazuna said, forcing a smile. "Sure, my grandson with cry for days wondering where I am, when I'm coming home. And my daughter might denounce the ninja of the Hidden Leaf, claiming that you abandoned me to my death and living out the rest of her life in sorrow. But that's not your problem, so forget it."

They stared at him. _Is he really trying to blackmail us right now?_ Isa traded a disbelieving look with Naruto.

Kakashi sighed. "Well, I guess we have no other choice. We'll have to keep guarding you."

Tazuna grinned, his good spirits seemingly restored. They reached the end of the bridge and passed into a long tunnel. When they emerged on the other side, they were in the village. The fog hadn't reached that far, apparently, because the sky was clear.

Isa looked around, leaning out of the boat curiously. Parts of the village seemed to be built over the water on stilts, and everywhere there were trees growing straight out of the ocean.

"What are these trees?" She asked.

"They're mangroves," Tazuna replied. "The Land of Waves is famous for them."

"I've never seen anything like them," She said, reaching out to touch one of the branches as they passed. Something inside the tree moved, and she squeaked, yanking her hand back. The movement made the boat rock, and Sasuke gripped her shoulder, glaring at her.

"Stop. Moving." He growled. He looked slightly greenish.

"Sasuke, are you okay?" She asked, concerned.

"I don't like boats," He said, and then refused to speak any more, clamping his jaw shut and staring firmly at anything that didn't move.

They reached the pier and disembarked, Sasuke immediately resting his head against a wall and breathing heavily. Naruto snickered, but stopped when Isa elbowed him.

"Be nice," She said.

He rubbed the spot where she'd hit him. "Nobody lets me have any fun."

As soon as Sasuke could move again, they left the dock. Tazuna explained that the village he lived in was actually past the one they'd arrived in, his house about a fifteen-minute walk away. They were on high alert. Although there'd been nothing in the village to suggest an imminent attack, there had also been no people, which seemed strange.

Naruto was especially jumpy, apparently determined to prove that he was ready for anything. He took the lead again, scanning the path with sharp eyes when suddenly he stopped and hurled a kunai into the bushes.

"Got 'em!" He crowed triumphantly. "I knew there was someone following us!"

He waded into the shrubbery and gasped. "Oh, no, wait, hang on, you poor little rabbit, I'm so sorry!"

Isa narrowed her eyes at him. "Did you kill a rabbit?"

He re-emerged, holding a fluffy white rabbit. It didn't appear to be injured, but it had a traumatized look on its face. Sasuke and Kakashi both flinched away from Isa when she squealed in delight.

"It's so cute!" She exclaimed. Gently, she took the rabbit from Naruto, cuddling it to her chest. "I can't believe you almost killed it! Look at it, it's adorable!"

Naruto was looking at her as if she'd grown a second head. "You... like rabbits?"

She nodded, giggling and cooing at the tiny creature. "Aw, can we keep it, Kakashi-sensei? Please?"

Kakashi was frowning, and she paused. "What's wrong, Kakashi-sensei?"

He twitched, turning to look at something in the trees. "Look out," He yelled, dropping into a crouch as a huge sword burst out of the foliage, flying directly at them.

Isa ducked and the rabbit slipped out of her arms, bounding off into the forest. She reached for it, but Sasuke grabbed her arm, pulling her around so that she was facing their new enemy. The sword had imbedded itself high up in a tree, and a man was standing on the hilt. His face was hidden by wrappings, and he had no shirt on, his chest rippling in muscles and covered in scars.

Sasuke hauled her to her feet, not letting go of her arm until she pulled at his grasp. They angled themselves in front of Tazuna, naturally falling into the formation they'd been using the entire trip.

"Well, this is a treat," Kakashi said, sounding so relaxed that he might as well have been talking to an old friend in the supermarket. "Zabuza Momochi, rogue ninja from the Village Hidden in the Mist."

He glanced at them over his shoulder. "You three need to stay out of this. Protect Tazuna, don't get involved."

Naruto looked ready to argue, but Isa grabbed his sleeve, yanking him into formation.

"Kakashi of the Sharingan eye. Did I get that right?" The man, Zabuza, said. His voice was low, rough, and sent chills down Isa's spine. Beside her, Sasuke stiffened. She glanced at him, hoping he wasn't choosing this moment to have a panic attack.

"Sorry about this, but I'm gonna be taking the old man from you," Zabuza continued.

Kakashi reached up, lifting his forehead protector. Whatever was beneath it made Zabuza chuckle.

"Looks like I get to see the Sharingan in action. I'm honored." He said.

Naruto frowned. "What's a Sharingan?"

"The Sharingan is a rare, powerful technique," Sasuke said. "It's a dojutsu that allows the user to analyze and copy any ninjutsu, taijutsu, or genjutsu they see."

"That's right, little boy. As for you," Zabuza said, looking at Kakashi. "You had your own page in our Bingo book. Kakashi, The Copy Ninja."

Sasuke was watching Kakashi sharply. "The Sharingan only occurs in a few members of the Uchiha clan," He muttered. "How does he have it?"

"Does it matter?" Naruto asked. "It's awesome!"

Zabuza scoffed. "Enough talking. If I'm going to have to go through you first, Kakashi, let's get on with it." He flickered, and vanished, reappearing on the surface of the water nearby. He was making a hand sign, and Isa could feel an enormous amount of chakra building.

"Ninja Art: Hidden Mist Jutsu!" Zabuza was obscured behind a sudden haze of fog. It was everywhere, crawling thickly over the ground and hiding everything, even Kakashi, from view.

"Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto called out, eyes looking everywhere for a hint of something in the fog.

"Stay there, Naruto," Kakashi's voice emerged from the mist. "He's coming after me first."

"Who is this guy?" Sasuke asked.

"His name is Zabuza Momochi, the ex-leader of the Hidden Mist assassination unit. He's a master of the silent killing technique." Kakashi replied. "The Sharingan can't completely neutralize it, so you all need to be on your guard."

Isa swallowed hard, closing her eyes and feeling out, trying to find Zabuza. She hissed in frustration. _The entire place is covered in chakra, this fog is full of it. I can't even feel Kakashi-sensei, let alone Zabuza._

"Eight points: larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular, subclavian arteries, kidneys, heart." Zabuza's voice drifted through the fog menacingly. "Which will be my attack point?"

Without warning, she felt like all the air was being sucked out of her lungs. _Killing intent_, some distant, rational part of her mind told her. It pressed down on her, an almost palpable force. She felt tiny, like a helpless child, an insect about to be crushed.

She didn't even notice when the fog cleared, her eyes screwed shut. It was everywhere, consuming her, suffocating her. She was drowning, gasping for air.

"Sasuke, Isa." Kakashi's voice cut through the haze enveloping her mind. "Calm down. I'll protect you with my life, all of you."

Isa dragged in a shuddering breath. Kakashi looked at them over his shoulder, smiling. "I will not allow my comrades to die. Trust me."

She felt the pressure lessen for a split second, felt like they might actually make it out alive, and then he was behind them. She didn't need to sense his chakra to know he was there. Zabuza was standing between them and Tazuna, sword in his hand.

She was trembling, stumbling away from him, eyes wide and blue and terrified.

"Game over, Kakashi," Zabuza said. He made as if to move, but didn't have a chance to even lift his sword before Kakashi was there, a kunai lodged in Zabuza's abdomen.

Water gushed out of the wound. _Too much water, not normal._

"Kakashi-sensei, behind you!" Naruto shouted. The Zabuza that Kakashi had stabbed disintegrated into a puddle of water, and as Kakashi turned to face the real Zabuza, his sword swung around, cutting their instructor cleanly in half.

When Kakashi's body turned opaque and fell to the ground, liquified, it was as if the world had righted itself. Isa could breathe again, could think. _The Sharingan can copy jutsus in an instant, Kakashi had replaced himself with a water clone before Zabuza could even think of that._

Kakashi was standing behind Zabuza, a kunai to his neck. "What was that you said? Game over?"

Zabuza chuckled softly. "You honestly think I could be defeated by a poor copy of my own powers?" He laughed again. "You're smart, though, I'll give you that. You'd already copied my jutsu when you gave that little speech. You wanted me to focus on your clone while you hid in the mist. It was a nice attempt, but I'm not that easy to fool."

Kakashi didn't hesitate, plunging his kunai into Zabuza's neck. He exploded in a burst of water. And then Zabuza was there again, Kakashi narrowly ducking his sword. He couldn't even stand up before Zabuza was kicking him, sending him flying backwards with one hit.

Isa gasped, watching Kakashi vanish into the water. Zabuza chuckled, flickering and appearing on the surface of the water. There was a long, strained moment before Kakashi broke the surface.

Zabuza was behind him, hands forming signs faster than Isa could track. "Water Prison Jutsu!"

Kakashi didn't even have time to cry out, his body wrenched into the air, suspended in a globe of water. Zabuza had one arm in the water, holding it up. When he finally turned his attention to the three genin, every instinct was screaming at Isa to run.

"Time's up for your little friends, Kakashi," Zabuza said, one hand forming a sign. "Water Clone Jutsu!" A clone coalesced out of the ocean, hefting it's sword.

"You kids think you're ninja just because you're wearing forehead protectors?" Zabuza scoffed, his clone advancing toward them. "You don't know what it means to be a ninja. When you understand what it means to be powerful, when you hold life and death in your bare hands, that's when you're a ninja."

The clone lunged forward, kicking Naruto squarely in the chest. He gasped, landing on the ground in a heap. Isa started toward him.

"Listen to me," Kakashi shouted, somehow speaking despite being trapped in a ball of water. "Take Tazuna and run! You're no match for this guy!"

Isa rounded on him. "We're not leaving you, Kakashi-sensei!"

"Be quiet and listen! He's using all of his power to keep me in this prison, so he can't fight you himself. He has to use his water clone, but the clone can't go far from it's source. If you run, you'll be able to escape," Kakashi said, desperation edging into his voice.

Isa's mind was racing, eyes flicking from the clone, to Naruto, who was still on the ground, to the real Zabuza, his hand suspended in the water prison.

"We're a team, Kakashi-sensei. Nobody gets left behind," She said, voice steadier than she felt. She glanced at Sasuke. "Distract the clone."

"You've got a plan?" He asked, kunai glittering in his fingers.

Her lips were pressed into a thin line. "Yeah. Keep him off me."

He nodded tensely, leaping into action. The clone knocked away his kunai effortlessly, grabbing Sasuke by the throat and tossing him to the ground.

Naruto growled, picking himself off the ground. "Hey, asshole," He grinned. The clone glared at him. "I don't think you're half as tough as you act." He formed a hand sign and twelve shadow clones shimmered into existence.

They flew at Zabuza's clone, no match against his strength, but Isa didn't need them to be. She edged into the line of sight, lining up her shot. Her stomach was churning, fear and uncertainty making her knees shake.

She only had one shot at this, and if she missed, she didn't want to think about what might happen. She saw Sasuke jump back into the battle out of the corner of her eye, a blast of fire erupting from his mouth.

For a moment, it was as if time slowed. She took a deep breath, a peculiar sense of calm settling over her. Raising her hands, she formed an 'O' with her fingers.

"Ninja Art: Mind Transfer Jutsu." Her voice rang crystal clear, eyes locked on Zabuza's for a split second before she crumpled to the ground.

"Isa?!" Naruto looked panicked, unsure whether to run to his teammate's defense or continue wailing on Zabuza's clone.

Sasuke was grinning. "Hey, loser. Focus. She knows what she's doing."

Zabuza shuddered, grabbing his head with his free hand. He groaned, swaying where he stood. Slowly, after what seemed like an eternity, he opened his eyes.

He blinked, then sniffed in derision. "Not a real ninja, huh?" He yanked his arm up, shattering the water prison. Kakashi crashed back into the ocean, resurfacing quickly and wading to shore. Zabuza's clone was hesitating, the first line of worry creasing it's forehead.

Zabuza stepped onto land, looking down at himself. "Feels weird being in a guy body."

Sasuke snorted. "Get out of there before you hurt yourself."

Zabuza laughed, the sound strangely girlish coming from the man who'd moments before been intent on murdering their entire team.

He shuddered again, falling to his knees and clutching his head. Kakashi seemed to have recovered from his brief stint in captivity, despite his bedraggled appearance.

"Check on her," He ordered, pointing to Isa's still form.

Sasuke nodded, leaving Naruto facing the motionless clone. He knelt beside her, checking for a pulse. Her eyelids fluttered when he pressed his fingers against her neck.

"She's okay," He said.

"Well, Zabuza, I made a mistake letting myself get caught in your trap," Kakashi said. Zabuza struggled to his feet. "It's a good thing I had my team here to save me. But now I think it's time to end this fight. I'd say it's been fun, but it really hasn't."

* * *

A/N: Alright, guys, here's Chapter 4! The Land of Waves arc has actually proven a little tough to write, since I've never really written fight scenes before. I had to kinda figure out how I wanted to approach them, but I'm relatively satisfied with them, and I hope they're at least understandable when reading. I think I'm gonna start updating weekly from here on out, so expect to see Chapter 5 next Saturday. Again, thanks to my wonderful beta readers, Tox, Clauds, and now Ami, too. Hope everyone enjoys and keeps coming back for more! :)


	5. Chapter 5

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters. Isa Yamanaka and any other OC's are mine._

* * *

Taking over someone's mind was strange. The Mind Transfer Jutsu had originally been used as an information-gathering technique, but had eventually been adapted into a viable combat strategy. When Isa had entered Zabuza's mind, it had felt just like every other time she'd practiced. Only normally when she practiced, the other person didn't fight back.

The first thing that young Yamanaka's were taught was to recognize that everybody's mind was different. They all felt different, were laid out differently, and responded differently to invasion. Zabuza's mind felt like the mist he created, thick and heavy and intangible. It roiled around her, violently opposed to her presence.

The second thing that young Yamanaka's were taught was how to gain control over someone's mind once they were inside it. It was disconcerting to reach out without an actual body, to touch someone's being and collect it and push it down until it was buried.

Zabuza fought hard, slipping out of her grasp more than once. But once she had him, all she had to do was _shove_ and he was gone. Looking out of someone else's eyes gave her a headache; all of the colors were distorted, the blues slightly bluer, the greys not quite grey enough.

Zabuza's body felt bulky, but she didn't allow herself time to adjust. She didn't have enough chakra to hold onto him for long, and she could already feel him pushing back again. She pulled her arm up, breaking the water prison, waiting for Kakashi to resurface before walking to the shore.

She looked down at herself. Or, looked down at Zabuza. "Feels weird being in a guy body," She said, speaking through Zabuza's mouth.

Sasuke was smirking. "Get out of there before you hurt yourself."

She giggled and, with a final push against Zabuza's mind, let herself return to her body. Everything went dark and fuzzy, and for what felt like a long time, she floated. It was peaceful, the impenetrable darkness almost comforting.

But then, all too soon, there was pressure. She slowly came back to her body, feeling returning first to her fingertips and then spreading. She could feel someone's fingers against her neck. _Checking for a pulse,_ she thought, vaguely upset at the idea that they thought she might be dead.

"She's okay," The person said.

With great effort, she opened her eyes. "There you are, Sasuke." She smiled at him sleepily and held up her arms. "Help, please." He grunted, standing up and grabbing her hands, pulling her up alongside him.

Her vision went blurry as all the blood rushed out of her head and she stumbled, clinging to his shoulder for support.

"Nice job, Isa." She looked up and nodded at Kakashi as soon as her head stopped spinning.

"Thanks, sensei. I would have felt really bad if we left you here to die," She said.

She watched, still feeling oddly detached, as Kakashi and Zabuza leapt away from each other, facing off on the water. Considering that Zabuza had just used the water to trap Kakashi, it didn't seem like the safest place to be, but Kakashi seemed completely calm and in control.

Zabuza started chanting, forming hand signs as he spoke. Kakashi mirrored him exactly, moving at the same time Zabuza did. _He's copying Zabuza's jutsu as he's performing it,_ Isa realized. _That's amazing._

"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!"

The water between them contorted, two huge jets rising from the surface with the heads of dragons. They attacked each other, and water crashed everywhere. Isa dug in her heels against the waves, watching Zabuza's clone vanish into the current. They could do little but watch now as Kakashi and Zabuza clashed, their dragons battling overhead while they fought on the water.

Every move that Zabuza made, Kakashi mirrored it exactly. It was as if he was reading Zabuza's mind.

"Sasuke, how is he doing that?" She asked, glancing at Sasuke. He was watching the fight intently, a frown creasing his forehead. "Is the Sharingan supposed to work like that?"

He hesitated. "I don't know."

Zabuza was livid, veins standing out in his forehead and eyes wide with rage. He was forming hand signs again, but Kakashi was moving faster.

Kakashi's Sharingan was spinning. "Water Style: Water Vortex Justsu!"

A spiral of water formed around him, even bigger than the water dragons, and drove itself right into Zabuza. Isa doubted anyone could withstand a direct impact, watching the Mist ninja be swept away. The vortex had him reeling, trapped in a violent torrent of water which left him sagging listlessly against a tree.

With a casual flick of his wrist, Kakashi had him pinned, kunai tethering him against the tree. Zabuza strained weakly, all strength apparently gone. The vortex faded, the water draining back into the ocean, leaving a wide path of destruction behind.

Zabuza stared at Kakashi in disbelief. "How can you do that? Can you... see the future?"

Kakashi met his gaze, Sharingan blazing. "Yes. This is your last battle. Ever." He had a kunai in his hand, and was lifting it when there was a flash of silver and Zabuza grunted, eyes going wide and glassy.

Isa watched him fall, landing face-first on the ground. Two senbon were sticking out of his neck. She cast around, looking for their origin. A boy was standing in the trees, a mask obscuring his face.

"You were right," The boy said, voice oddly delicate. "It was his last battle."

There was a long moment where nobody said anything. Sasuke, Naruto, and Isa were in front of Tazuna, watching the newcomer closely. There was nothing to indicate that he meant them any harm, but given that he'd just felled Zabuza with two senbon, they were rightfully cautious.

Kakashi knelt next to Zabuza, feeling for a pulse. He shook his head. "Dead."

The boy in the tree bowed respectfully. "Thank you, you have made my job much easier. I have been tracking Zabuza, and you have given me the chance I needed to take him down."

"You're a tracker ninja from the Village Hidden in the Mist," Kakashi said, staring at the boy levelly, neither trust nor hostility in his eyes.

"He's a little young to be a tracker, isn't he?" Isa asked, voice hushed.

Naruto glanced at her. "Is there an age limit?"

"No, but trackers are specially trained to hunt people down. He doesn't sound much older than us," She said.

"There aren't a lot of twelve year-old's who are trained assassins," Sasuke agreed, eyes narrowed.

"So what are you saying?" Naruto asked, frowning. "Is he a bad guy?"

Isa shook her head. "He killed Zabuza. I don't think he's our enemy."

Naruto was glaring at the tracker ninja. "I can't believe he took out Zabuza with one shot! We could have died, and he just shows up and throws a couple sticks and it's over. How are we supposed to compete with that?"

"We held our own," Isa pointed out. _Barely_, she added, but didn't voice the thought. She could feel how low her chakra was; taking over Zabuza's mind had taken a lot out of her. She didn't have the strength to check on her teammate's chakra levels, but Naruto didn't even look tired. Sasuke was starting to feel it, she could tell from the way his eyebrows were drawn low, his eyes hard and calculating.

"Yeah, but we weren't anywhere near strong enough to fight Zabuza by ourselves," Naruto said, fists clenched. "I try so hard, I train every day, and now I can't even measure up to some kid with a swirly mask? How is that fair?"

"Naruto, you did well. All of you did," Kakashi said, tone firm but not unkind. "There's not a single genin in the world who could have defeated Zabuza. That doesn't mean you're weak. There are always going to be enemies you can't beat, there's always going to be someone stronger than you. That's the way life works."

"So, what, then? What am I supposed to do if I'm not strong enough no matter how hard I try?" Naruto asked, voice raising in anger.

"Try harder," Sasuke said simply, as if it was the most obvious answer in the world. Naruto's jaw worked, but slowly the tension eased out of his shoulders.

He glanced at Sasuke with a grin. "Man, you think you're so cool, don't you?" Sasuke smirked.

The tracker ninja jumped to the ground, landing nimbly beside Zabuza's body. He picked up Zabuza and slung him over his shoulders, nodding at them. "I must leave now and deal with the body. Thank you for your assistance." He disappeared, taking Zabuza with him. The five of them were left standing, staring at the empty clearing.

Kakashi sighed and pulled his forehead protector back over his eye, the Sharingan hidden once more. "Alright, let's get going. We still have a mission to complete."

Tazuna ran a hand through his hair, laughing awkwardly. "Sorry for causing you all this trouble," He said. "You can stay at my house when we get there, don't worry!"

Kakashi nodded, turning back onto the path. He took one step and then froze, swaying for a second and then falling to his face.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Isa ran to him, rolling him onto his back. She felt for a pulse, relieved when she found one, beating weakly, but steadily. "He's unconscious," She said.

"We don't have a stretcher, do we?" Naruto asked, patting himself down as if he might find one hidden in his pocket.

She shook her head. "Come on, the three of us can carry him."

"Let's hope we don't get attacked again," Sasuke added drily, picking up Kakashi's feet. Naruto and Isa both grabbed one of his arms and, with some effort, managed to pick him up.

Actually getting to Tazuna's house took a while, since they had to be careful not to accidentally drop Kakashi on the way there. He was heavier than he looked, and they couldn't lift him very far off the ground. But they kept going, passing quietly into the village and arriving gratefully at Tazuna's door without any further incidents.

A young woman answered their knock, her smile immediately turning into a look of shock upon seeing three children carrying a grown man. She ushered them inside.

"Thank you for protecting my father," She said, shutting the door behind them. "My name is Tsunami. Here, you can put him in the downstairs bedroom." She lead them to a nearby room, waiting for them to drop Kakashi on a bedroll before she began puttering around, straightening the room and fluttering around their instructor worriedly.

"Is he alright?" She asked. "Is there anything we can do for him?"

Isa was sitting beside the bedroll, rubbing her forehead wearily. "I think he has chakra exhaustion. There's nothing we can do to help him, he'll recover by himself."

She knew that Tsunami probably didn't understand, but she nodded along anyway. "What about you three? You look exhausted." She hesitated, glancing at Tazuna. "You... got into trouble on the way, didn't you?"

"A little," Isa replied.

Naruto scoffed. "Yeah, you can say that again! We had to beat up these ninja with crazy chains, but they were easy, and then this other guy showed up and he was really tough. That's why Kakashi-sensei is out of it, because of how hard the fight was. But don't worry," He added hurriedly at Tsunami's startled look. "We beat him. Sort of."

"Sort of?" Tsunami echoed, looking at them questioningly.

"He's dead," Sasuke said.

"Oh." Tsunami didn't look sure whether to be happy about that or not. She smoothed her hands down the front of her apron and shook herself, fixing a smile back onto her face. "Well, do any of you want something to eat? Or some tea?"

Naruto perked up immediately. "Yeah, some food would be great! We haven't eaten in hours!" He laughed and followed Tsunami out of the room. She looked grateful to have something to do other than stand helplessly over the unconscious Kakashi. Tazuna looked from Sasuke to Isa, who was still sitting beside Kakashi, and followed his daughter.

"Go eat something," Isa said, looking at Sasuke. "You need to get your strength back."

He was watching her closely, hands in his pockets. "So do you."

She smiled softly. "I don't even want to stand up right now, I'm so tired."

He grunted. "I'll get you some food, you can watch Kakashi." She nodded and he left. When he came back a few minutes later, she was slumped over on Kakashi's chest, sound asleep. His lips quirked in a smile, and he returned to the kitchen quietly.

She woke up slowly, dragging herself out of sleep, squinting through the morning sunlight shining on her face. She yawned, arching her back lazily. Kakashi chuckled, the sound vibrating through her. With a start, she realized that she was still laying on his chest. She sat bolt upright, cheeks slightly pink.

"I'm sorry, Kakashi-sensei! I didn't mean to fall asleep on you! Are you okay?" She rubbed her neck, slightly sore from sleeping at an odd angle.

Kakashi looked tired, but the fact that he was awake was a good sign. "I'm fine. You were really worn out, huh?"

She yawned again, a hand curled against her mouth, and nodded. "Fighting Zabuza was hard."

"I'm impressed you managed to take over his mind like that, that was smart." Kakashi smiled at her.

She shifted so that she was sitting with her legs crossed, running a hand through her tangled ponytail. "I wasn't sure I could do it," She said honestly. "He was really strong, and I've never really tried to take over like that before."

Kakashi reached over and ruffled her hair. "You did it, though. I don't know how we would have gotten out of there without that move."

Isa smiled proudly. "You would have figured something out. But next time we're in a fight, don't push yourself so hard, okay?" She frowned at him sternly.

He laughed. "Yes, nurse."

She couldn't hold the frown, face breaking into a grin. "I'll go get us something to eat, I'll be right back."

He nodded, and she hopped up, heading to the kitchen. She hadn't had a chance to look around the day before, but she'd gotten a glimpse of the kitchen when they'd walked in. She found it easily enough, hesitating in the doorway when she saw Tsunami washing dishes.

She cleared her throat and Tsunami looked up, smiling at the young girl. "Sleep well?" She asked.

Isa blushed. "Yeah, I did. And I'm sorry that I didn't get a chance to thank you for letting us stay here before I fell asleep."

Tsunami waved away the apology. "It's fine, really. I tried to convince your teammates to go to sleep, too, but they insisted on keeping watch."

"Sounds like them. I was actually wondering if you have anything to eat, Kakashi is awake and he needs something to eat. If it's not too much trouble," Isa said, eying the sparse kitchen. She knew that the Land of Waves was poor, but it hadn't occurred to her that food might be hard to come by, too. Many of the cabinets appeared to be empty, and she doubted that the refrigerator fared much better.

Tsunami smiled kindly. "Of course, I'll whip something up in a minute. Do you think your other boys will want anything?"

_My other boys? I have boys? _ "You mean Naruto and Sasuke?" Isa laughed. "They're not really 'my boys', I don't think."

"Well, you all look out for each other. I've got my boys, and I look out for them, too." Tsunami said matter-of-factly. "I think they're outside, if you want you can go tell them that I'm making lunch."

Isa hovered in the doorway for a moment, wondering if she should offer to help prepare lunch, but Tsunami shooed her off. She stepped outside, spotting Naruto and Sasuke sitting nearby, their legs hanging off the side of a dock.

Naruto waved her over, grinning widely. "Man, we thought you were gonna sleep forever!"

She sat down next to him, letting her legs dangle over the water below. The fog from the day before was gone, and the sun was shining brightly. All around them were mangroves; they grew along the shore or out of the water itself, tiny green islands dotted across the calm blue sea. Tazuna's house was at the very edge of the village, far enough removed that everything around them was very quiet. It would have been peaceful if not for the tension in the air.

She'd noticed it when they'd arrived, first when there'd been no people at the dock, and now, when she looked over at the village. It was small, and even from a distance, it seemed sad. _Whatever Gato's been doing to these people, it's taken a toll,_ she thought.

Isa sighed and turned back to the ocean. "I guess the Mind Transfer Jutsu took more out of me than I thought."

"Well, you're all better now," Naruto said cheerfully.

"Kakashi-sensei's awake, too," Isa said. "And Tsunami is making lunch."

Naruto jumped up. "Alright! Let's go, I'm starving!" He waited for Sasuke and Isa to stand up before leading the way back to the house.

Lunch was a lighthearted affair. They ate in Kakashi's room, lounging across the floor or propped against the walls. Isa let Kakashi sit up, but refused to let him get out of bed, glaring at him until he resigned himself to being bedridden.

Afterward, she took their dishes to the kitchen and helped Tsunami wash them. When she returned to Kakashi's room, she found her teacher leaning on a pair of crutches, making his way to the door.

"Kakashi-sensei!" She advanced on him, hands on her hips. He might have physically balked away from her if he hadn't been wobbling on crutches. "What are you doing? You're supposed to be in bed!"

"We're bored," Sasuke said. He was standing in the doorway, arms crossed. "Kakashi-sensei promised to teach us a new technique."

"Yeah, come with us, Isa! It'll be fun!" Naruto leaned toward her, smiling relentlessly until her glare softened.

"Kakashi-sensei, your chakra is still too low to be doing anything," She said, but her voice lacked conviction. _A new technique? _She chewed on her bottom lip uncertainly, concern warring with curiosity.

Kakashi smiled at her reassuringly. "Don't worry, I won't be doing anything. I'll be fine, Isa."

"Kakashi-sensei is tougher than he looks," Naruto added emphatically.

Reluctantly, she followed them out of the house. Kakashi lead them away from the village, turning off the path and plunging into the forest until they found an open space. He stood at the edge of the forest, leaning on his crutches.

"Today's lesson is about chakra control," He said. "Who knows what chakra control is?"

Isa spoke up. "It's the ability to channel your chakra into different points of your body."

Kakashi nodded. "That's part of it, yes. It also involves being able to control your output of chakra. Good chakra control is essential for a lot of advanced techniques, and unfortunately it seems to be something that the Academy doesn't focus on."

Naruto looked confused. "So you're not teaching us a jutsu?"

"Not exactly. Come here." Naruto walked over to Kakashi, frowning. "Channel your chakra into your hand," Kakashi instructed.

Naruto concentrated on his hand for a long minute. His chakra wasn't visible, but Isa could feel it collecting in his palm.

"Okay, what now?" He asked.

Kakashi pointed at a tree. "Make your hand stick to the tree."

Naruto was completely lost, but did as he was told. When he placed his hand against the bark of the tree, it stuck there.

"See how your hand is stuck? Your chakra is latching onto the tree, it's filling in the gaps in the bark, allowing your hand to stick there. Now, stand back and channel your chakra into your feet."

As the pieces clicked in his mind, Naruto's face lit up. He stepped back and put his hands together, forming a hand sign until Isa could feel his chakra pooling in his feet.

"Aright, stand back a little," Kakashi said. "You're going to want a running start."

Naruto backed up, and then charged at the tree. His foot landed on the trunk of the tree and propelling him upward. He managed to make it a few steps before the bark splintered beneath his foot and he fell, flipping back to the ground. He landed smoothly and stood up, excitement and determination in his eyes.

"The trick is learning how to regulate your chakra. If you use too much, it's too strong and the bark will break. If you don't use enough, your foot won't stick and you'll fall. I want the three of you to practice until you can reach one of the branches. You can use a kunai to mark your progress." Kakashi hobbled out of the way, sitting down to watch.

They spread out, each picking a tree. They were all tall, and there weren't any branches that were less than fifty feet above them. _If Naruto could only make it a few feet off the ground on his first try, we're gonna be out here all day_, Isa thought. He had a lot of chakra, though, and she didn't doubt that he could go for hours without getting tired. She, on the other hand, didn't have the kind of chakra he had.

She focused, concentrating inward. She'd never been very interested in anatomy, not like Sakura was, but she knew the basic layout of the chakra network. She envisioned it as she pulled her chakra toward her feet, imagining the complex system of channels directing all of her chakra into her feet.

She opened her eyes and ignored everything around her, allowing her world to narrow. It was just her and the tree. She dug in her heel and took off, rocketing toward the tree. She planted her foot on the trunk and started climbing rapidly, making it halfway up the tree before she felt her control waver. She kicked herself into the air, landing lightly on the ground.

"How'd you get so high?" Naruto demanded. He apparently hadn't made much progress on his second attempt.

She tucked her bangs behind one ear, refocusing her chakra. "I just kinda centered myself, I guess. Ignore everything around you except for you, your chakra, and the tree. You can't force it, it has to flow." Naruto processed that, mulling it over before nodding.

They kept practicing, slowly making their way up the trees. Naruto's progress was the slowest, moving up at a snail's pace. It didn't help that Sasuke was leaps and bounds ahead of him, but both boys were huffing in frustration when Isa finally reached the lowest branch of her tree.

"How'd you do that so fast?" Naruto asked, staring up at her. She was sitting on her branch, legs swinging beneath her.

She shrugged. "I told you, you have to center yourself."

He grumbled and sprinted at his tree, scoring another mark with his kunai before tumbling back to earth. Isa might have made it fastest, but she was breathing just as hard as her teammates were. She was tired and sweaty, her muscles protesting against movement of any kind.

"Good job," Kakashi said, standing up carefully. "Let's head back, you guys need a break."

Naruto shook his head. "No way, I'm not leaving until I get to the top of that tree!"

"Me either," Sasuke said, just as defiantly as Naruto.

Kakashi sighed. "You can both come out here bright and early tomorrow, but right now we need to head back and talk to Tazuna."

Neither of them looked satisfied, but they followed Kakashi out of the clearing nonetheless.

"Are you coming back tomorrow, Isa?" Naruto asked as they walked.

She glanced at Kakashi, who shrugged. "Maybe. I mean, I made it to the first branch today, but that's hardly the top of the tree."

"But you still understand the basics of chakra control," Sasuke said.

"Well, yeah, but so do you," She countered. "And just because I did it once doesn't mean I can do it again."

Kakashi looked back at her. "Don't sell yourself short, Isa. You have better chakra control than Naruto and Sasuke, and you're a fast learner, too. But tomorrow I need you somewhere else."

"Somewhere else?" She repeated,

"I'll explain back at the house," He said.

Tsunami greeted them at the door. "Oh, good, you're back. I was about to send out Inari to look for you."

Isa blinked and looked at the sky. She hadn't even noticed how far the sun had set already. And... _Inari? _She peered around Tsunami and spotted a small boy sitting at the dining room table. He was glowering at them, fists clenched. _I thought we were all full up on grumpy with Sasuke,_ she thought. They filed into the room and sat down around the table. Tazuna appeared, as well, taking a seat at the head of the table.

"You're resuming your bridge building tomorrow, correct?" Kakashi asked once they were all settled. Tazuna nodded. "Good. I'm sending Isa with you, she'll be your bodyguard for the day. Naruto and Sasuke are both busy with other things, and I have my own business to attend to. Is that an acceptable plan?"

Tazuna didn't even blink. "Sounds good to me."

Inari gaped at his grandfather. "You're not gonna be safe with some girl! Why are you paying these ninja if they're not even going to guard you properly?"

Naruto hands came down on the table and he leaned toward the boy threateningly. "Hey, watch your mouth! Isa can beat the crap out of you, and if she doesn't, I will!"

Inari didn't look the least bit intimidated. "Yeah, right. You're just a kid. You can't do anything, you're weak. You'll never beat Gato."

"Inari..." Tsunami sighed sadly, reaching for her son's shoulder, but he slipped out of her grasp.

"No, mom! You know it's true!" Inari cried, voice breaking. In anger or sadness, Isa couldn't tell. "It doesn't matter how much protection you have, nothing you do will ever be enough. You'll die, too. You all will."

He cast an anguished look around the table, small body shaking. With a strangled sob, he fled, storming up the stairs. A door slammed distantly, and an uncomfortable silence settled over the table.

After a long pause, Tazuna sighed. "I'm sorry about Inari. He's been through a lot, and he's not taking it well."

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened?" Kakashi asked.

Tazuna glanced at Tsunami, who nodded. "We... lost someone. To Gato, early on. He wasn't Inari's real father, but they were very close. Inari adored him. And ever since, he hasn't laughed or smiled. The whole island has had their hope stolen from them, but none worse than Inari."

"What happened to him?" Isa asked.

"The man who became his father was a hero in our village. He met Inari and saved him from drowning, and they were inseparable after that. The Land of Waves wasn't his home, but that didn't seem to matter to him. He loved Inari, and he loved our people." Tazuna paused, voice trembling.

Tsunami took her father's hand. "He saved our village from being washed away during the winter storms, and he was regarded as a hero after that. When Gato showed up, he was the first person to stand up against him. And Gato made an example of him, killed him in front of the whole village. In front of Inari. After that, no one's dared to stand up to him, and Inari's changed so much." She wiped away tears, squeezing her father's hand.

"He is the reason I must build this bridge," Tazuna said. "I have to do it for him, and for our village, and for Inari. We have lost too much to Gato, I cannot let it continue."

"Even if it gets you killed," Sasuke muttered.

Tazuna frowned at him. "A death is only worth as much as the person gave in life, boy. Inari's father gave everyone hope, and when he died, that hope was taken from us. If I can build this bridge, my death still will not mean half of what his did, but it will break Gato's hold, and that is enough for me."

"We're not going to let you die. You're going to finish your bridge and Gato will be done for. Believe it!" Naruto said forcefully. There wasn't a shadow of doubt in his eyes; they were as clear and blue as the sky, narrowed in anger and conviction. She smiled softly, looking at Tazuna and Tsunami.

"We promised to protect you, and ninja never break their promises. Your bridge _will_ be finished," She said.

"Thank you," Tsunami said, very quietly. She brushed away more tears, trying to summon a smile. "I hope you're right."

"Well, Naruto's decided that your village will be saved. I wouldn't be surprised if he got out there and started building the bridge himself," Kakashi said. Naruto grinned, folding his hands behind his head. Kakashi stood up abruptly. "Isa, could you help me back to bed? I'm feeling tired again."

"Um, sure." Isa stood up and followed him out of the room, shrugging at Sasuke when he shot her a questioning look. "Kakashi-sensei, are you okay?" She asked when they entered the bedroom.

Kakashi nodded, leaning his crutches against the wall. He didn't look tired, and his chakra levels were quickly returning to normal. Isa had checked. "I need you to tell the boys that we'll probably be running into trouble again sometime soon."

She frowned at him. "What do you mean?"

He folded his arms and stared out the window. "What did you think of that tracker ninja we met?"

_What a weird question._ "He was really young to be a tracker already, but it didn't feel like he meant us any harm. Why?"

"Because tracker ninja are trained to hunt down and kill their targets, destroying the body on the spot so that no clan secrets are compromised." Kakashi glanced at her sharply.

She blinked as the wheels turned in her head. "He took Zabuza's body away."

He nodded. "I don't think that kid was a tracker ninja at all."

"So he was working with Zabuza? But he killed him, didn't he?" She asked.

"He hit Zabuza with two senbon directly in the back of the neck. If you're skilled, you can hit a nerve which cuts off your vital signs. You're effectively dead for about an hour." Kakashi explained grimly.

Isa sucked in a breath and puffed out her cheeks. "Zabuza's alive. And he'll be coming back for us. He'll be prepared this time, and he'll probably bring that kid. Why didn't you tell us earlier?"

"I wanted the three of you to focus on your chakra control, not Zabuza. But you need to know, since you'll be with Tazuna tomorrow," Kakashi said. He sat down on the edge of his bed. "Tell Naruto and Sasuke, they need to know, too."

She nodded and ducked out of the room, climbing the stairs silently. She could feel Naruto and Sasuke's chakra in one of the rooms; she located the door and entered the room, shutting the door behind her.

Sasuke was lounging in the windowframe, the window thrown open. She gestured for him to close it. He did so, hopping down and watching her expectantly. Naruto was laying on one of the beds staring at the ceiling.

He sat up when she walked in. "What was that all about? Why was Kakashi-sensei being weird?"

Isa put a finger to her lips to hush him, pulling Sasuke closer so that the three of them were grouped together. "Zabuza's alive," She whispered, gauging their reactions. Sasuke didn't look surprised, but Naruto's mouth dropped open in shock.

"What?! I mean, _what_?" He repeated in a loud whisper when they frowned at him.

"The tracker ninja," Sasuke guessed. She nodded.

"He wasn't really a tracker, he just induced a death-like state when he hit Zabuza with those senbon. I don't think he'll be ready to fight again right away, but we need to be ready," She said.

"How are we supposed to defeat him a second time? We couldn't even do it the first time!" Naruto exclaimed testily.

"And he'll have the tracker with him next time," Sasuke added. "If we can't beat one of them, we'll never be able to beat both of them."

Isa raised her hands consolingly. "Last time went bad because Kakashi-sensei got caught in Zabuza's trap. That won't happen again. And that kid is the same age as us, how strong can he really be?"

"You're willing to bet on that?" Sasuke asked her, raising an eyebrow skeptically. She hesitated.

"No," She admitted. "But whatever happens, we'll deal with it. Kakashi-sensei wanted me to tell you guys so that you're prepared."

"Are you sure you're gonna be okay guarding Tazuna by yourself tomorrow?" Naruto asked her.

She smiled as confidently as she could. "I'll be fine, Naruto. I'll be able to feel them coming next time, remember?" She tapped the side of her head. Naruto didn't look entirely comforted.

"You didn't sense them the first time," Sasuke noted.

"I wasn't expecting them. Next time it'll be different," She said.

He caught her eyes and didn't look away, his stare challenging. "If you're wrong, and they attack you, you'll die."

"They're not going to attack me." The barest hint of irritation edged into her voice. Sasuke was stating what she already knew, but he didn't seem to be willing to back down.

"You don't know that," Naruto said, voice surprisingly quiet. He was frowning at her, worry all over his face.

She frowned at them and then sighed, rubbing her forehead. "Whatever happens, I'll be ready, alright? I'm not weak, I can handle myself."

"Yeah, but we're a team," Naruto said, running a hand through his hair. "You're not allowed to get hurt if we're not there to help you."

Impulsively, she pulled him into a hug. He froze, cheeks going red. "I promise I won't get hurt," She said, stepping back and smiling at him.

"Ninja never break their promise," Sasuke said. He was smirking. "Don't hug me."

She snorted, nudging him with an elbow. "Don't be so grumpy, Sasuke. My family is big on hugging, you'll get used to it eventually." He shook his head, looking very doubtful.

They each collapsed on a bedroll after that, and after Naruto volunteered to take the first watch, Isa let herself drift into the warm comfort of sleep, hoping her dreams wouldn't be haunted by watery men and hunter masks.

* * *

A/N: Aaaaaand Chapter 5 is up! Big thanks to my amazing betas Tox, Clauds, and Ami. We're on Chapter 5 now, which means we're about halfway to the Chunin Exams, which is the arc I'm most excited to write. Schedule-wise, I was going to update on Saturday's, but I think I like updating on Wednesday's better, so the next chapter should be coming next Wednesday. Unless I get impatient, like I usually do, and update it over the weekend. As always, thanks for reading, hope you enjoy!


	6. Chapter 6

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters. Isa Yamanaka and any other OC's are mine._

* * *

Guard duty was boring work. Isa had left with Tazuna early in the morning, eating breakfast as they walked. When they got the bridge, most of the workers were already there. They worked with a quiet sort of urgency, keeping their heads down and working diligently.

At first, she'd stuck close to Tazuna, but after almost getting hit in the head by a wayward steel bar, she backed off. Instead, she poked around the construction site. The bridge was wide, and most of the work left involved laying rebar and pouring cement. Consequently, there were piles of steel bars everywhere, as well as discarded mallets and crates. She clambered on top of a pile of crates, sitting on top.

From there, she could see all the way to the mainland. There were a few boats on the water, but for the most part it was empty and pristine, bright blue and sparkling. A breeze ruffled her hair, and she breathed in deeply. The sea had an interesting smell. If the forests of Konoha smelled like dirt and leaves and warm sunlight, the Land of Waves smelled like salt water and fish and fresh air.

_It's a nice place,_ she thought. _Without the poverty and crime lord, of course._

After a while, she got tired of looking around, and stood up, settling into a simple stretch. When she was young, her father had regularly dragged Ino and her out of bed early in the morning and lead them through a stretching routine. Bending into the poses was as easy as breathing, and she ignored the odd looks she got from the workers when she folded herself over backwards.

_A Yamanaka needs to be flexible_, she recited to herself, her father's words practically etched into her brain. _We need to flow, we need to bend. A Yamanaka's strength is in their intellect, but your body is still a tool, an extension of yourself. You can fashion it into a weapon, something as lithe and sharp as your mind. You are beautiful and you are deadly. Use that._

Isa almost smiled at the looks she got. She finished her stretches and laid down on the crates, staring at the sky. She spent most of the day on top of the boxes, surveying the area like a hawk in her nest. The workers were nervous, and particularly skittish around her. They gave her a wide berth, which left her with little else to do besides sit around.

By the time the workers started leaving, she was glad to go. She'd assumed bridge building would be a more exciting task than it had turned out to be. She walked beside Tazuna, staying on alert. She privately doubted that Zabuza would attack unless Kakashi was there. Kakashi's ability to copy his jutsus had made Zabuza angry, and that meant that their next fight would be personal.

"We need to stop in the village on the way back," Tazuna said, breaking their long silence. "Tsunami asked me to pick up some food for dinner."

Isa nodded, too occupied by her thoughts to care either way. She followed the older man into the village, moving through throngs of people. It was the first time she'd actually seen any of the villagers. They were a haggard bunch, watching her with suspicious, tired eyes. Children ran past, a collection of bony arms and thin faces. Isa thought of Konoha, of her house with her kitchen that was full of food, and looked down, ashamed.

"How could it get so bad here?" She wondered aloud. Tazuna lead her through a market, many stalls completely empty.

"The Land of Waves has never been a wealthy land," He said sadly. "But ever since Gato showed up, it's become impossible for many people to put food on their tables."

"I wish I'd known sooner," She said, taking the bag of groceries Tazuna handed her.

He chuckled, shaking his head. "What would you have done? March down here with your little blond friend and fix everything?"

She frowned. "Naruto's a good person. He could never ignore something like this, even if it wasn't our job to help you."

"You're all pretty good kids," Tazuna said, somewhat begrudgingly. "Even the quiet one. I didn't know what to expect when I went to Konoha for help, but it wasn't you three. I just hope you don't get yourselves killed trying to protect me."

They made their way back to the path after paying for their food, the house appearing around a bend in the road.

"We know the risks," Isa said firmly. "We've trained for this."

Tazuna glanced at her thoughtfully, but didn't say anything more, letting the subject drop. They reached the house, putting the groceries in the kitchen. Inari appeared in the doorway, his face darkening when he saw Isa.

"You're Inari, right?" She asked. He nodded slightly, distrust clear in his eyes. "Do you know where my sensei is? You know, the silver-haired guy?"

Inari shook his head. "He hasn't been here all day."

Isa blinked, surprised he'd actually responded. "Oh. Do you know where my teammates are, then?"

"The angry one was here earlier, but then he left again. I haven't seen the blond one all day." Inari grumbled, not-quite glaring at her. He didn't look as angry as he had the night before, but it was hard to tell under the bucket hat he had pulled low over his face.

"Thank you," She said, trying to smile at him. He didn't return the expression, and she made a quick exit.

She wasn't about to try and track down Kakashi, so she headed to the clearing. When she emerged from the trees, she looked up. Sasuke and Naruto were sitting at the top of their trees, tired and dirty, but triumphant.

They jumped down and she cheered, giving Naruto a high five. "I knew you guys could do it!"

Naruto laughed, hands behind his head. "It wasn't that hard. You didn't think we were gonna give up, were you?"

She giggled. "Of course not! You're both too stubborn to give up."

"Well, I wasn't about to let this loser bear me," Sasuke said, smirking at Naruto.

"Shut up, Sasuke, I would have beaten you if you'd gotten here a couple minutes later!" Naruto groused, but there was no real animosity behind his words. "Hey, I'll race you guys back to the house! Last one there gets first watch!"

He took off. Isa took one look at Sasuke's exasperated expression and followed their teammate, laughing.

Sasuke scoffed, keeping pace with her easily. "You're really gonna let Naruto win?" He asked, leaping between the trees.

She grinned at him, hair flying behind her, catching the fading sunlight and shining like spun gold. "No way." She sent a burst of chakra to her legs and shot forward, flying through the air in a blur of purple and gold.

When they skidded to a stop in front of Tazuna's house, Kakashi was waiting for them, chuckling in amusement.

"I win!" Isa crowed, thrusting her fist in the air. They were all breathing hard, Naruto bent over with his hands on his knees. "I told you I wasn't going to let Naruto beat me." Sasuke rolled his eyes, but he was smirking.

"Hey, that's no fair! You can't gang up on me like that!" Naruto protested. He looked up at their teacher, who was watching them with a smile. "We made it, Kakashi-sensei! Sasuke and I both got to the top of our trees."

"See? All it took was a little practice. Good job," Kakashi said. He eyed his two exhausted students with a raised eyebrow. "You didn't push yourselves too hard, did you?"

"I didn't, but he refused to come back for lunch," Sasuke said, jerking a thumb at Naruto, who looked ready to collapse.

Kakashi sighed, more out of resignation than annoyance. "I thought that might happen. Dinner will be ready soon, you can eat and then you need to get some sleep. Tomorrow you'll both be heading out with Isa to act as Tazuna's bodyguards."

Naruto tried to straighten up but wobbled and almost fell. Isa caught him, slinging his arm around her shoulders. "Come on," She said, helping him into the house.

"Oh, dear, is he okay?" Tsunami was setting the table for dinner and looked at Naruto worriedly. Isa sat Naruto down at the table, sitting down next to him.

"He's fine," She assured Tsunami. "He just wore himself out training today."

They ate, even Naruto managing to stay awake long enough to inhale his portion of the meal.

Kakashi, whose dinner remained untouched, cleared his throat. "Tazuna, tomorrow we'll all be going with you to the bridge. I know it might seem a bit overkill, but you need the protection. We suspect that Zabuza isn't dead, after all."

"What?!" Tazuna looked shocked, his spoon frozen halfway to his mouth. "But that kid killed him! We saw it!"

Kakashi shook his head. "We believe that was Zabuza's accomplice. They posed as a tracker ninja and only stepped in because Zabuza might have actually died if he'd kept fighting. But it's been a couple of days now, and if my strength is almost back to normal, then his is, too."

Tazuna processed that information, nodding slowly. "Alright, I trust you."

Naruto grinned, his head resting on the table. "That's right, old man, we'll protect you! Believe it!"

Isa saw Inari's fists clench before he stood up. "Why do you keep doing this? Why do you still think you can win? Gato's got an army, he'll destroy you! Your stupid training isn't going to help! It doesn't matter what you do, you're going to lose!"

Naruto snorted. "Yeah, well I'm not like you. If I say I'm gonna win, I'm gonna win."

Inari's whole body was shaking, tears spilling onto his cheeks. "Shut up! Don't act like you know anything about this country! You've never had to suffer like I have, you've never been treated like dirt!"

Naruto stiffened instantly, face going dark. "At least I don't sit around and cry like some baby. At least I'm not a coward," He growled. Isa had never seen him look angry like that before. She'd seen him annoyed and frustrated, but she'd never seen the cold, bright fury that was in his eyes now.

He stood up, chair screeching against the floor, and left the room. Inari was sobbing quietly and then he, too, fled. Tsunami and Tazuna were staring at the table with sad eyes, either unwilling or incapable of going after the young boy.

Kakashi stood up with a sigh and followed Inari out the front door. Isa exchanged a look with Sasuke.

"Go talk to him," Sasuke muttered. He started picking up their dishes and she hurried upstairs, reaching out for Naruto's chakra.

She found him in the bedroom the three had been sharing, leaning out the window. He didn't turn around when she came in, eyes fixed firmly on the night sky. She slipped into the space next to him, elbows resting on the windowframe.

"Are you okay?" She ventured after a moment.

His jaw was clenched tightly, but his eyes had lost some of their anger from before. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Naruto, I know what Inari said was wrong, but he's just a kid," She said, falling silent when he looked at her.

"I know," He said quietly. "He doesn't know anything about me, that's not his fault. I didn't mean to call him a coward."

She smiled softly. "Yeah, you did. You never say anything you don't mean."

"Okay, maybe I did," He admitted. "But I shouldn't have said that."

He looked back at the sky, the stars reflected in his eyes. She sighed and reached over, wrapping her arms around his shoulders, burying her face in the crook of his neck.

"I'm sorry," She said, very quietly, guilt and shame in her voice. _I'm sorry I was never there for you,_ she thought, but didn't say. _I'm sorry that you were always by yourself and I never tried to do anything about it. I'm sorry that it took us this long to be friends. I'm sorry and I promise you'll never have to be alone again._

The tension eased from his body. He leaned his head against hers, and she knew he understood. "It's okay, Isa."

She squeezed his shoulders tightly and stepped back, blinking quickly. "Sasuke's coming."

He straightened as Sasuke opened the door. He looked at Isa, eyes querying. She smiled.

"You're not crying are you, loser?" Sasuke drawled at Naruto. It lacked his usual vitriol, and Naruto snorted, shoving him lightly.

"Of course I'm not crying, idiot." He sat down on his bedroll with a huff. "I'm just gonna have to prove to that kid that he doesn't know what he's talking about."

Sasuke hovered next to Isa for a second until she met his eyes. She smiled again, stronger this time, and he nodded, apparently satisfied. She sat down on her own bedroll, wrapping her blanket around herself and laying down so that she could look out the window.

They were silent for a while before Naruto spoke, voice already heavy with sleep. "Guys, what are we gonna do if Zabuza attacks us tomorrow?" He asked.

The thought sent a cold shiver down Isa's back. "Go to sleep, Naruto," She said by way of answer. He didn't need any encouraging, and his breathing leveled out after a minute. She knew when Sasuke fell asleep too, his face more peaceful in sleep than it ever was when he was awake. Isa didn't think she could have slept even if she wanted to, so she stared out the window, trying not to think about what might happen in the morning.

But morning came, and when the sun rose, Isa didn't feel the slightest bit rested. Naruto proved impossible to wake up. Isa prodded him for a while until giving up, leaving him sprawled out on his bedroll, snoring lightly.

They left without him after a quick breakfast, making their way to the bridge quietly. The sky was clear again, the sun shining brightly, too cheerful for the tension balled in Isa's chest. Kakashi and Tazuna took the lead, leaving Sasuke and Isa to walk alongside each other. Normally, she would have tried talking to her taciturn teammate, but Isa focused her attention on their surroundings, trying to feel out for any chakra signatures.

When they reached the bridge, her stomach dropped. The workers were all there, slumped across the ground, their bodies limp and lifeless. They approached them carefully, senses trained for an attack. Isa knelt next to one of the men, feeling for a pulse.

"He's alive," She announced. "They've just been knocked out, I think." Her anxiety was at an all-time high, the nerves making her stomach churn. When mist began gathering around them, her lips thinned into a narrow line, and she reached for a kunai.

"Get ready," Kakashi said. Sasuke and Isa settled into position in front of Tazuna, scanning the mist sharply. It was gathering thickly, pooling across the bridge and climbing until it blotted out the sky.

"Still dragging around those brats, Kakashi?" Zabuza's voice echoed out from the fog, chilling and dangerous and very, very alive. "The little Yamanaka girl's not completely stupid, at least, but I don't think her trick is going to work a second time."

Isa swallowed hard, forcing herself to be still, despite the fear pumping through her. She blinked, and then there were seven Zabuza's surrounding them, their swords glimmering. Sasuke smirked and was moving immediately, slashing through the clones with a kunai. They exploded into water.

"Guess you could tell they were water clones," Zabuza said conversationally. Isa could see him through the mist, and next to him, the masked tracker ninja. "Looks like you've got a rival, Haku."

"So it seems," The tracker ninja- _Haku_- said. He sounded so serene, so peaceful, completely at odds with Sasuke, who was already gritting his teeth, fire in his eyes.

"I've got this guy," He said, glaring at Haku.

"Be careful, Sasuke," Isa cautioned him. "You don't know what he's capable of, don't go charging off and throw all your power at him before you get an idea of what he can actually do."

Sasuke made an irritated noise. "Just protect Tazuna, don't worry about me."

Isa frowned, but didn't reply because at that moment Haku started spinning, coming toward them in a whirlwind of speed. Sasuke caught his senbon against his kunai, smirking.

"We want the bridge-builder," Haku said, still completely calm even as he and Sasuke clashed. "Just give up and I won't have to kill you."

Sasuke scoffed, not even a senbon flashing dangerously close to his face could shake his arrogant derision.

"You can't match my speed," Haku said. He almost sounded sad. "Already, I've gained two key advantages."

"Yeah? And what are they?" Sasuke spat, eyes flashing.

"We're surrounded by water. Also, I've blocked one of your hands, which means you only have one free hand to defend yourself with." Haku formed signs with his free hand. _Hand signs with one hand? Is that even possible?_ Isa worried at her bottom lip, watching Sasuke's eyes widen.

"Secret Jutsu: A Thousand Needles of Death."

The water at their feet started rising into the air, sharpening into long, thin needles. When they hurtled toward the earth, Isa's heart was in her throat, but Sasuke was already gone, leaping into the air and sending Haku sliding backwards. The needles crashed harmlessly into the ground.

_He avoided it,_ she thought, relief flooding through her. She narrowed her eyes, sensing the chakra gathered around his feet. _At least he's putting Kakashi-sensei's training to good use._

He landed behind Haku, kunai ready. "You're not as fast as you think," He taunted. Haku narrowly avoided his strikes, ducking and weaving. Finally, Sasuke managed to hit him, kicking him squarely in his mask and sending him flying back, skidding to a stop at Zabuza's feet.

"It's not smart to insult ninja," Kakashi said sagely. "Calling them brats is bound to stir up Sasuke's attitude, and he's the best young fighter in the Leaf village. Isa here is the smartest in her class, and a better strategist than I am. And Naruto Uzumaki is the one of the most stubborn, determined people I've ever met. You picked the wrong fight, Zabuza."

Haku picked himself off the ground, chakra rippling around him, arcing out from his body as if it was electrified. _That chakra is visible,_ Isa thought, startled. _How much power do you have to have for your chakra to to become physically perceivable?_

"I'm sorry that it's come to this," Haku said softly. "I did warn you, but you refused to listen. Now, I have to kill you." He formed a hand sign and water lifted off of the ground, solidifying in mid-air and hanging, turning into slabs of ice that surrounded Sasuke. "Secret Jutsu: Crystal Ice Mirrors!"

_What is that jutsu? You can't turn water into ice with a normal water release transformation!_

Haku walked toward one of the mirrors and sunk into it, appearing within. The reflections in the mirrors shimmered, and Haku was suddenly in all of them. Isa glanced at Kakashi, who looked just as worried as she felt.

"Sasuke, you've gotta get out of there!" She shouted, hating how tiny her voice sounded as it echoed through the fog. "Kakashi-sensei, you have to help him!"

Kakashi started forward, making it halfway to Sasuke before Zabuza appeared in front of him.

"Your boy's finished, Kakashi. You fight me," He said, gripping the hilt of his sword.

Sasuke was too far away, the fog drifting in between them and almost obscuring him from view, but Isa saw when he staggered in pain. She started forward, panic edging into the frantic beat of her heart.

"Sasuke!" She couldn't move, couldn't leave Tazuna undefended. All she could do was stand and watch as Sasuke struggled to stay on his feet, Haku's attack leaving him defenseless. Then, out of nowhere, a shuriken came flying toward the mirrors. Haku leaned out and caught it easily, but the other three shuriken took him by surprise. One struck him in the mask, hard, and he tumbled out of the mirror, landing in a crumpled heap on the ground.

"Sorry, guys, but you know how it is. The hero usually shows up at the last minute and saves everyone." Naruto appeared in a puff of smoke, and Isa could have cried in happiness.

"Naruto, make two clones, have them defend Tazuna!" She shouted. She waited until he did so, his two clones rushing over to stand beside her, before she sent her chakra to her feet and sprinted toward Sasuke.

She crouched beside him, her arm going around his shoulders protectively.

"Are you okay?" She asked, wiping away a smear of blood on his cheek. He winced in pain, but nodded.

"I'm fine," He muttered. "He's so fast, though."

"We need to get out of this thing," She said, looking around at the mirrors.

Sasuke shook his head. "No, I can do it."

"Sasuke, no, he's too strong!" She protested. Sasuke grimaced and clambered to his feet. He pulled her up alongside him.

"Go back to Tazuna, he'll need more than a couple of clones in case Zabuza decides to go after him." He pushed her away, but she latched onto his wrist, glaring at him.

"You're an idiot if you think I'm going to stand back and watch you get killed!" She said sharply.

Sasuke was about to retort when Kakashi shouted, "Naruto! Move!" They turned in time to see Zabuza throw four kunai at Naruto, who was rooted to the spot, only for the kunai to be knocked out of the air by Haku's senbon.

_What? Did they cancel each other out? Or did Haku knock them away from Naruto on purpose? But why would he do that?_ Isa glanced at Haku, his mask making him impossible to read.

"Naruto, ninja don't charge into battle and reveal all their jutsus at once!" Kakashi barked. "Ninja use deception to ensure they have the most advantageous position on the battlefield. Jumping into the field like that made you a human target."

Naruto wilted under their teacher's frustrated words. "I'm sorry, I was just trying to save everyone!" He said, gesturing wildly at Sasuke.

As if suddenly remembering that he was still standing in the middle of an apparent death trap, Sasuke turned to Isa. "Get out of here," He growled, shaking off her hand and pushing her to the edge of the circle of mirrors.

"I'm not leaving you!" She dug in her heels and refused to go any further.

He glared at her. "Listen, your skills won't be useful in here. You're the smart one, you don't do up-close fighting, and you can't figure out how to beat this guy from inside his cage. Naruto and I have got this handled. Trust me." She wavered uncertainly, but with a final push, stumbled out of the ring of mirrors.

"Haku, what are you doing?!" Zabuza hissed, glaring at his masked accomplice.

"Zabuza, let me fight this boy. Please," Haku said, voice still infuriatingly calm.

Naruto grinned fiercely, already rising to the challenge. "Bring it on! I can take you, believe it!"

"You're too soft, Haku," Zabuza said.

_He doesn't want to kill us,_ Isa thought. _He said that right at the beginning. He's going to drag this out until they can't fight any more and they have to give up._

"Soft? Are you kidding?" Naruto's fists were clenched. "You just sliced up my teammate! You're an asshole, and a liar, too! Who do you think you are wearing that mask and trying to fool us like that? You were with Zabuza the entire time!"

"I'm sorry," Haku said. That made even Naruto blink, confused. "But as your sensei said, a shinobi's art is in deception."

"Naruto, keep him away from the mirrors!" Isa yelled, only halfway paying attention to their conversation as the gears turned in her head. Naruto nodded and she saw Sasuke reach for a kunai, hurling it at Haku. The boy leaned back smoothly, and the kunai sailed off harmlessly into the distance.

"I have not forgotten about you," He said, looking at Sasuke. "You should have accepted defeat and retreated with your friend."

Isa frowned. _I guess it makes sense that he let me go. I haven't made a move to fight him, and everyone knows Naruto and Sasuke aren't going to just give up and accept defeat._

"Let us finish our fight, then. To the death." Haku marched back to his mirrors. Naruto hurriedly grabbed a kunai and threw it, missing completely.

"Hey, get back here!"

Haku paused, one foot already in the mirror. "It's alright, Naruto, we'll have our fight next." He stepped into the mirror, his image shimmering, reflected in all of them. He attacked again, his senbon flying everywhere, lacerating Sasuke, who could do little more than duck and hope he didn't hit anything vital.

_Haku's not going to keep playing with him like this forever,_ Isa thought, frantically scrambling for a strategy. _The key is in the mirrors, obviously. It's not a clone jutsu, otherwise he wouldn't need them. When he steps into the mirrors, does that allow him to travel between them instantaneously? Or is he just so fast that we can't see him moving at all?_

She glanced at her teammates. Neither of them were fast enough to track Haku's movements; she doubted it would be easy even for Kakashi, and his Sharingan.

Naruto charged into the circle of mirrors, glaring at the reflections of Haku. "You think I'm just gonna wait around for you to fight me? No way, we're fighting right now!"

"Naruto, why are you in here?!" Sasuke demanded. "Attacking him from in here isn't going to do any good!"

"What are you talking about? I'm distracting him so he doesn't kill you!" Naruto retorted.

Sasuke huffed in irritation. "Shut up, loser. I'm ending this right now. Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" Flames erupted from his mouth, but the mirrors remained unscathed.

Haku attacked again, sending both boys crashing to the ground amid a flurry of senbon. "These mirrors only reflect my image. They allow me to transport myself between them at lightspeed. To me, you move in slow motion."

"I knew it," Kakashi muttered. "It's a kekkei genkai."

"Can your Sharingan beat it?" Isa asked him.

He shook his head. "The Sharingan can't copy kekkei genkai, and it might not even be fast enough to track someone like Haku."

Naruto coughed, gritting his teeth. "You're a real jerk, you know that? You think we're gonna give up just because you've got some mirrors and some needles? I'm not giving up. I've got a dream, and no one is gonna stop me from achieving it! I'm gonna be the greatest Hokage ever, and nothing you throw at me is gonna beat me!"

"You are not the only one with a dream, Naruto. I fight for someone precious to me, and I will kill the kindness in my own heart if it will help his dream become reality." Haku said.

Kakashi pulled up his forehead protector, revealing his Sharingan.

Zabuza chuckled. "Ready to play now, Kakashi? Sticking to the same old tricks? Let your enemy see your jutsu too many times, and they'll figure out how to get past it."

Isa was torn. She could see Naruto summoning shadow clones over and over, leaping futilely at the mirrors, and she could have cut the tension between Zabuza and Kakashi with a knife. _I'm stuck, I can't do anything to help._ She clenched her fists, nails biting into her palms. _I'm useless in this fight._

Things started happening quickly; Zabuza summoned more mist, blocking everything from view, and there were bursts of flame from Sasuke. The mist now was so thick that Isa couldn't see anything, she could hear Zabuza's voice, drifting distantly through the fog. She focused her chakra, feeling out and trying to find Kakashi.

_He's... right behind me?_ She spun in time to see Zabuza's sword descending, cutting a straight path toward Kakashi. She lunged forward, but couldn't reach him in time. Zabuza sliced a clean line across Kakashi's chest, a spray of blood following his sword.

"Kakashi-sensei!" She screamed, forgetting everything else except for the blood. She grabbed the back of his vest, pulling desperately until he turned just enough for her to see. There was a long cut across his chest, shallow, but bleeding.

"You're letting your concern for those stupid kids cloud your judgment, Kakashi," Zabuza taunted. "Don't worry, they'll be dead soon. You'll have plenty of time to apologize for failing them when you're dead." He chuckled darkly, fading back into the mist.

"Kakashi-sensei?" She couldn't help the way her voice shook.

He reached back, resting a hand on her head. "I'm fine, Isa. Naruto and Sasuke are going to be okay, too. You should learn to stop underestimating your opponents, Zabuza." He said, raising his voice so that it carried through the fog. "They may be genin, but Naruto Uzumaki is one of the strongest kids I've ever seen, and Sasuke Uchiha has inherited the unique gift of his family."

"Uchiha?" Zabuza's voice sounded vaguely surprised.

"That's right, Sasuke has the full power of the Sharingan at his command. It doesn't matter how fast Haku is, my boys will be able to beat him." Kakashi said, ruffling Isa's hair. "Stay with Tazuna," He ordered.

She nodded. "Be careful, Kakashi-sensei."

He disappeared after Zabuza. Isa was turning back to Tazuna when she felt it. It was chakra, glowing red, furious and bright and not entirely human. It eclipsed everything else, blotting out her senses until all she could feel was white-hot fury, chakra that buzzed against her skin and snarled angrily at her. She staggered under its weight, falling to her knees. Tazuna was leaning over her, his mouth moving, but there was no sound.

All she could see was red.

* * *

A/N: Okay, here's Chapter 6! Thanks to my betas, as always. Just a couple more chapters of the Land of Waves, and then we get to move on to the Chunin Exams, which is my favorite arc. I'm currently in the process of writing Chapter 12, so you guys are pretty far behind at this point. But I'm keeping updates regular, Chapter 7 will be up next Wednesday, so you'll catch up eventually. I apologize if the fight scenes are boring to read, I started this story in part to help familiarize myself with writing fight scenes, and they're not quite at the level of quality I'd like them to be at yet. I'm always trying to improve, though, so if you have any questions, comments, or concerns, drop a review or PM me. Enjoy!


	7. Chapter 7

___Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters. Isa Yamanaka and any other OC's are mine._

* * *

_What... what is that?_

Tazuna was holding her arm, carefully, as if she might break. He pulled her to her feet, peering into her wide, unfocused blue eyes. It was like he wasn't even there; she just looked through him, transfixed by something that he couldn't see.

Isa had never felt anything like it before. It was huge, and angry, and it felt hungry somehow. _Have to help. Have to save them. _She took a faltering step, hand finding Tazuna's and pulling. She dragged him through the mist, toward the cage of mirrors.

The mirrors were shattering, blown away by sheer force. The red chakra was everywhere, pulsing and twisting. She couldn't see anything, her vision a haze of chakra and smoke, but she knew when Haku was sent flying out of the cage. She could feel it. The sheer force of the blow sent him crashing to the ground, tumbling and coming to a stop. His mask fractured and broke, revealing a face that could only be described as pretty.

Isa hesitated, looking from Haku, who was standing up, and the mirrors, which were shaking. They broke, falling like a rain of ice. Naruto was standing in the middle of the circle, breathing hard.

Isa gasped. Naruto's face wasn't the face of her teammate. It was different, darker. His eyes were red, his body hunched over and shuddering. Sasuke lay at his feet, unmoving.

Isa was rooted to the spot. _It's him. That chakra is coming from him,_ she realized. Naruto, who had just spent two days learning how to run up the side of a tree, was the source of this immense power. _How is this possible? What is he?_

He snarled, a terrifying, bestial sound, and charged at Haku. The boy made no move to defend himself, staring at Naruto with a somber expression. Naruto's fist stopped two inches from his face.

As suddenly as it had appeared, the red chakra was gone. Naruto was panting, but his body didn't have the primal edge it had had moments before.

"You're the kid from the woods!" He exclaimed.

"Hit me," Haku murmured. "Avenge your comrade's death."

Naruto growled, then punched him. Haku stumbled and fell. With a start, Isa remembered Sasuke. _Dead? He's not dead, is he? He can't be._ She sucked in a breath and grabbed Tazuna's hand again.

"I need to help Sasuke," She said. They stepped into the broken circle of ice, and she crouched next to her teammate. If not for the senbon jutting out of his body, he could have been asleep, his face peaceful and a little sad.

She smoothed his hair away from his forehead. "Hey, Sasuke, you're gonna be okay," She whispered, fighting the choking feeling in her throat. She felt for a pulse, lips trembling when she found none. She sat back, hard, knees pulling up to her chest. She pressed her lips into a thin line, feeling hot tears gathering in her eyes.

_He's dead. He can't be dead! But he is. I should have helped! But I didn't. _She shook, her mind mind an internal monologue of guilt and reason. Tazuna knelt, placing a hand on her shoulder gently, and she swallowed a sob. _I didn't even try to save him. He told me to go, he told me to trust him. He told me he was gonna be okay. I shouldn't have left, I shouldn't have listened._

She looked up, blinking away her tears. Naruto was talking to Haku, and beyond them, she could make out Kakashi and Zabuza.

"The fog's clearing. Zabuza's getting weak. I need to help them," She said, wiping at her face angrily.

"I think your sensei has it under control," Tazuna said. He was right. Kakashi had Zabuza pinned, a pile of dogs anchoring him where he stood. _Dogs? Some kind of summoning jutsu?_ Kakashi was holding chakra in his hand, blue electricity arcing around him.

He charged, ready to strike. And then Haku was in front of him, and Kakashi didn't have time to react, his chakra sinking into the boy's chest. Time seemed to freeze, all the breath leaving Isa's body in a rush. There was blood everywhere, blooming over Haku's torso and splattered across the ground.

Zabuza recovered first, grinning maniacally. "What was that you said about my time being up, Kakashi?"

Kakashi was standing stock still, shocked. His summoned dogs vanished into smoke, and Haku clung to the hand that was pressed against his chest. "He threw himself in front of my attack to save your life," Kakashi said, voice strained.

Zabuza gripped the hilt of his sword. "I told you I trained him well. He's given me my life as well as yours."

He swung his sword, not caring that he had to cut through Haku to get to Kakashi. Kakashi dodged, taking Haku with him. He landed on the ground, gently laying Haku's body down in front of him.

"You think you're gonna get away with that?!" Naruto shouted, glaring at Zabuza. "He gave his life for you! You can't just treat people like they're tools!"

Kakashi shot him a warning look. "Naruto, stay with Tazuna. Zabuza's mine."

Naruto looked like he wanted to argue, but when he looked back at Isa, with her legs curled up to her chest, his face softened. He ran back to her, offering her a hand. She took it and he pulled her up, into a hug.

"I'm sorry, Isa," He muttered into her shoulder. "He was trying to save me."

She bit her lip, chin wobbling dangerously, and buried her face in his chest. "We have to protect Tazuna," She said, voice brittle with the effort of controlling her emotions.

Realistically, it would be hard for Zabuza to actually get to Tazuna. Kakashi wasn't even trying any more, tossing Zabuza around like a rag doll.

"Well, you look like shit, don't you, Zabuza?" An unfamiliar voice rang across the bridge. A short, stumpy man materialized through the mist, standing at the end of the bridge. Behind him stood a small army of well-armed thugs.

"Who is that?" Naruto wondered, squinting at him.

"Gato?" Zabuza sounded genuinely surprised to see him. "What are you doing here?"

"That's Gato? He's so... short." Naruto looked unimpressed.

Gato chuckled, idly tapping his walking cane. "See, Zabuza, you're expensive, so I've decided to take you off the payroll. You're dying on this bridge, and I brought these idiots to get the job done. If you could kill some of them for me, that'd be great."

Zabuza snorted, eyes narrowed in anger. "Looks like our battle is at an end, Kakashi. Since I'm no longer under Gato's employ, Tazuna is safe. We have no reason to continue fighting."

"So it would seem," Kakashi said, tone carefully neutral.

Gato walked toward them, stopping at Haku's body. He rubbed the bandages wrapped around one of his arms, sneering at the corpse. "This punk's dead? Serves him right, he almost broke my arm." He kicked Haku in the ribs sharply, grinning.

Naruto stiffened, eyes going wide in anger, and he ran toward Gato, kunai raised. Kakashi snagged the collar of his jacket, halting his progress.

"Get away from him! I'll kill you! You can't treat him like that!" Naruto struggled against Kakashi's hold. "Aren't you going to do anything, Zabuza? You can't just stand there and watch him do that!"

"Shut up, brat. Haku's dead," Zabuza said. Naruto glared at him in disbelief.

"Are you kidding me?! Haku threw away his life for you! You were the only person he cared about, and you treat him like he's nothing!"

Zabuza didn't even bother looking at Naruto. "You don't understand what it means to be shinobi. Haku was my tool, just as I was Gato's tool. I treated him like he was nothing because he _meant_ nothing to me."

"How can you say that?! You and Haku spent years together, doesn't that mean anything?" Naruto was crying, angry tears coursing down his face. "Just tossing someone aside when they're weak, that's not the way of the shinobi. He gave up everything for you and your stupid dream, and you don't even care."

"You're annoying," Zabuza muttered, staring at the sky through tear-filled eyes. He reached up, tugging at the bandages that covered his face. They pulled away, revealing a mouth full of sharp teeth. He grinned, but there was no mirth in the expression. "Surprised? I'm just a man. I'm human, all shinobi are, no matter how hard we try to avoid that reality."

He looked at Naruto. "Give me your kunai," He said. Naruto hesitated, then handed him a kunai. Zabuza turned back to Gato, smiling. Gato, unnerved, stumbled back into his gang of thugs. "You can't hide from me, Gato." Zabuza started running, kunai in hand.

He moved so fast that he was little more than a blur, a flash of steel and a spurt of blood as he sliced through the gang. A sword landed in Zabuza's back, and Isa gasped, wincing. But he kept going, even when a spear lodged itself beside the sword.

Gato was backing up as far as he could, but was stranded at the edge of the bridge. Zabuza staggered toward him, then shoved the kunai hilt-deep in Gato's stomach.

"If I'm dying, Gato, I'm taking you with me," He said, eyes wild.

Gato coughed thickly, blood staining his mouth. "You crazy bastard."

Zabuza spun, and the kunai imbedded itself in Gato's neck. He choked once, then toppled backward off the edge of the bridge, landing in the water far below.

Zabuza fell to his knees, looking at Haku's body sadly until he couldn't hold himself up any more, and collapsed.

Isa took a deep breath, body tingling from nerves, adrenaline, and exhaustion.

"Is it over?" A weak voice asked. She turned, and Sasuke's eyes were open, watching her.

Her knees gave out and she fell, arms wrapping around him, hugging him tightly. She couldn't help the tears that ran down her face, nor the way she clung to him, despite his grunt of pain. His arm went around her uncertainly.

"I'm okay," He said. "I'm alive."

She whimpered against his neck, fingers twisted in the back of his shirt. "Sasuke, I'm sorry. I couldn't help you and then I thought you were dead and I didn't know what to do, and I'm so, so sorry!"

He huffed a laugh, breath tickling her face. "Don't be stupid, it wasn't your fault." He glanced over her head. Kakashi was carrying Zabuza, laying him beside Haku's body solemnly. "They're dead?"

She nodded, sitting back enough to let Sasuke sit up. He winced and slowly climbed to his feet, not even protesting when Isa slipped his arm around her shoulders.

"Is Naruto okay?" He asked.

"He's fine, and so is Kakashi-sensei. Naruto," She called out. The blond shinobi turned around, face lighting up when he saw them. "Sasuke's alive!"

Sasuke lifted one hand in an ironic sort of wave, and Naruto grinned.

"Man, I guess we'll go hit up the village since Gato's gone," One of the thugs said, a hand on his weapon. "Gotta get paid somehow."

"Are they serious?" Sasuke wondered, shaking his head.

Isa frowned, sizing them up. Their group had been cut down a little by Zabuza, but there were still too many of them to take on, especially since they were all running low on chakra.

"If you want to get to our village, you're gonna have to go through us!"

They turned around to see what appeared to be the entirety of the village standing behind them, wielding makeshift weapons and glaring fiercely. Inari was leading the group, a crossbow in his hands, smiling.

"Inari!" Naruto laughed, overjoyed to see the young boy who had had, only the night before, called a coward. Sasuke and Isa glanced at each other and shrugged.

"You know how it is, the hero usually shows up at the last minute!" Inari said cheerfully, repeating the same words Naruto had used when he'd appeared.

"The whole village is here. I can't believe it." Tazuna wiped away a tear from his eye, smiling proudly.

The thugs hesitated, now heavily outnumbered, and quickly clambered back into their boat, leaving without so much as a backward glance.

Isa and Sasuke joined their teammates, Sasuke leaning heavily on Isa. They looked at Zabuza and Haku, and snow began to fall.

Naruto sniffed, trying valiantly not to cry. "Haku told me about his past, he said that where he grew up, it was always snowing."

Kakashi ruffled his hair. "Come on. They deserve a proper burial."

The villagers, who were already heading back to the village, provided two stretchers. Exhaustion was setting in, but they still placed Zabuza and Haku on the stretchers, carrying their bodies away from the bridge.

They found a peaceful spot, a clearing that overlooked the ocean, and they buried them there. They left the broken pieces of Haku's mask and Zabuza's sword to mark the graves. Isa laid bundles of white flowers on top of the graves, then stepped back, standing between her teammates.

"What do those flowers mean?" Sasuke asked softly.

"They're baby's breath," She said, looking up at the setting sun sadly. "They stand for innocence and purity of heart."

They were quiet for a long time, each enveloped in their own thoughts.

"Was Zabuza right?" Naruto asked suddenly. "Are ninjas just tools to be used? Is that the ninja way?"

"Everyone is a tool of destiny, shinobi or not. We can't escape that, it's just the way it is," Kakashi said.

Naruto frowned. "Well, I think that's messed up. I'm not gonna go through all this training just to end up like them."

"You won't," Isa said. A breeze ruffled her hair, and she brushed her bangs out of her eyes. "You're too strong for that."

Naruto laced his hands behind his head, grinning. "Yeah, that's why I've decided that from now on, I'm gonna find my own ninja way. I'm following the way of Naruto!"

Kakashi chuckled. "Just don't try to find the way back to the house, or we'll never get there." Sasuke snorted, and they turned to leave.

That night, the village was lit up, every door thrown open, the streets filled with happy people. It was like one of the festivals back in Konoha, and for a while Isa wandered around, dazed by the laughter and bright lights all around her. Naruto and Sasuke had promptly collapsed when they'd gotten back to Tazuna's house, but Inari had dragged Isa away, his previous animosity forgotten.

She found Kakashi sitting on the end of the dock, looking out at the water. She sat down next to him, leaning against his side.

"Hi, Kakashi-sensei," She said, blinking tiredly.

He chuckled, glancing down at her. "Hey, Isa. Having fun?"

She nodded. "Everyone is really nice. They keep thanking me over and over." She pursed her lips, despondent. "I feel bad for not being as happy as they are."

"You watched people die today," Kakashi said gently. "Nobody has to be happy after something like that."

She hesitated. "I actually wanted to ask you something." He nodded, watching her stare across the dark ocean with a frown. "During the fight, there was a moment when something happened, and I don't understand it."

"What was it?" He asked.

She turned to look him in the eye, gaze sharp. "Something happened to Naruto. He destroyed Haku's mirrors without even moving. I could feel all the chakra, and it wasn't his."

Kakashi considered her carefully. "So you want to know what it was? That's something I don't think even Naruto knows the answer to."

"But you do," She said. "And you're not going to tell me, are you?"

He smiled. "I can't. Besides, it's not my secret to tell."

She huffed, irritated. "Teammates don't keep secrets from each other. It's not safe."

"You're right, but it's not my decision. If you really want to know, I'm sure you can figure it out by yourself," Kakashi said, ruffling her hair affectionately. "You are the brightest young ninja in Konoha, after all."

The edges of her lips quirked up in a rueful smile and she stood up. "Goodnight, Kakashi-sensei." She left him sitting at the end of the dock, returning to the house and collapsing gratefully into bed.

When Isa woke up, she did so slowly. The room was warm, her bedroll cozy, and the steady breathing of her teammates comforting. She could feel others moving around the house; Tsunami was in one of the bedrooms down the hall, Inari was hurrying around the kitchen, and Kakashi was in his room, near the window.

She stretched languidly, yawning. Eventually, she roused herself enough to get out of bed, running a comb through her hair before putting it up again. Tsunami had liberated them of their dirty clothing, promising to give it back after she'd washed it, so Isa changed into a dress Tsunami had lent her. It was too big for her, but she tied her forehead protector around her waist, cinching it tight.

"Did Tazuna leave already?" She asked when she peered into Kakashi's room.

He nodded, leaning against the windowsill. "He left before I woke up, otherwise I'd be with him."

She walked over to him, looking out the window thoughtfully. "Do you think there will be any more attacks now that Gato's dead?"

Kakashi shrugged. "I doubt it, but our job isn't finished until the bridge is." He glanced at her. She seemed to be chewing on a question, mulling it over before asking it.

"Kakashi-sensei?" She ventured.

"Hm?"

"I want to learn how to be stronger," She said, eyes serious. "I know I'm not useless, but I want to be able to help my friends when they need me."

Kakashi considered her for a moment. "You know you don't have the kind of chakra that Naruto and Sasuke have," He cautioned, not unkindly. "You won't be able to do powerful jutsus right away."

"I know. I don't want to summon shadow clones or make fireballs, I just want to be able to help. My Mind Transfer jutsu is a one-shot deal, and it might not even work if I hit my target. So I can't rely on that to be my main jutsu, I need something else."

"Like what?" Kakashi asked.

She chewed on her lip, thinking. "What about that mist jutsu that Zabuza used? You can't see through that, even with the Sharingan, right?"

"No, but Isa, you're not weak just because you don't know a lot of jutsus. You don't need to prove that you're as strong as the boys," Kakashi said.

She made a displeased noise. "That's not the point, Kakashi-sensei. I'm not trying to prove anything, I just want to be able to _do_ something."

He pushed off of the windowsill and gestured for her to follow him. They left the house, walking along the shoreline. Kakashi stopped.

"Do you know the hand sign?" He asked her.

She nodded, raising one arm in the air and bringing the other in front of her face, holding two fingers up on each hand.

"Okay, you've got the whole ocean right here, so you won't need to make water from your own chakra. You'll be able to regulate how much mist you make depending on how much chakra you put into the jutsu. Don't overdo it," Kakashi warned, stepping back.

She took a deep breath, focusing her chakra. "Ninja Art: Hidden Mist Jutsu."

She could feel her chakra being sapped away. It wasn't leaving at an alarming rate, but it was still more than she'd been expecting. She frowned, trying to rein it in. A light mist had sprung up around her, snaking across the ground and curling around her legs. After a minute, she let the jutsu go. The mist faded away quickly, burned off by the sun overhead.

"Not bad for a first try," Kakashi said.

She puffed, bangs fluttering. "That took more chakra than I thought it would."

Kakashi sat down, his back against a tree. "To be honest, I didn't expect you to get that much mist, especially not right away. How do you feel?"

She shrugged. "Fine. I'm a little drained, but I still have plenty of chakra left."

He nodded, pleased. "Keep trying. Let me know when you're all out of chakra." He pulled out his book and started reading.

She focused again, forming the hand sign. "Ninja Art: Hidden Mist Jutsu."

The second wave of mist looked the same as the first. So did the third and fourth. By the time Naruto and Sasuke wandered out of the house, Isa was wiping sweat off of her face, nose wrinkled in frustration.

"Nothing's changing," She said, hands on her hips. "Why can't I get any more mist?"

Kakashi didn't look up from his book. "Chakra isn't built for instant gratification. You've got to practice and build up your chakra."

She sighed, waving to her teammates as they approached. Forming the hand sign, she performed the jutsu again. By this time, the mist was a little thicker, but it still didn't get any higher than her thighs.

"The mist jutsu?" Naruto asked. He looked impressed. "I didn't know you were a water transformation ninja, Isa."

"I'm not," She said. "Or at least, I don't think I am. I can't be, not with the progress I'm making on this stupid jutsu."

"I told you, you're doing well," Kakashi said, barely paying attention when Isa narrowed her eyes at him. "Particularly for your first time trying the jutsu. Give it some time and keep working at it, you'll get it eventually."

She rolled her eyes and tried again. The next week went by very much like that. Tazuna's crew was working hard on the bridge, but it wasn't a fast process. That left them with a lot of time to sit around. Isa continued practicing doggedly at the mist jutsu. She was improving, if not as fast as she wanted to, and by the end of the week she could manage to create a decent amount of fog.

Naruto latched onto the idea of learning new jutsus and also decided to work on the mist jutsu, though his was even worse than Isa's. Sasuke, who'd initially expressed no interest in learning the jutsu, began practicing, as well. Isa guessed that it was more because of his rivalry with Naruto than anything else.

By the second week, Isa was bored. And homesick. She missed her bed and her fluffy pillow and her mother's tea. She missed Ino, too. Sasuke had given her a hilariously incredulous look when she'd mentioned it, but it was true. She'd never been apart from her twin for so long before, and it was a strange feeling not having her there.

"It's like a piece is missing, or something," She explained. She was sitting on the beach, drawing in the sand with a stick. Naruto was wading in the water and Sasuke was sitting beside her. They'd spent the majority of the day training, but the sun was beginning to set and they'd ended up just sitting down instead of heading back to the house.

"That's weird," Sasuke said. He smirked when she playfully poked him with her stick.

"Shut up, it's not weird! Ino and I have always been together, I didn't even think about what it would be like not having her with me." She said, staring contemplatively at her sand drawing.

"Quieter, probably." Sasuke drawled.

"You are so rude," She said, laughing. "Don't be a jerk, you don't even know her."

"I know she's stalked me for, like, three years," He said.

"She doesn't _stalk_ you. She's just..." Isa paused, searching for the right word.

"Insane?" Sasuke offered.

"Enthusiastic," She said, glaring at him in mock anger. "She's actually really nice, once you get to know her."

Sasuke didn't look like he believed her. "You have to say that, you're her sister."

Isa grinned. "Well, yeah, but it's true. Come on, Sasuke, it's fun to have friends."

He looked at her skeptically. "I don't need friends."

"Liar. Everyone needs friends. Friends are important because they let you eat their food and they listen to you talk about stupid stuff." Isa nodded emphatically.

"Stupid stuff like this?" He asked, smirking when she pouted at him.

"This isn't stupid, Sasuke! Naruto, come tell Sasuke that friends are good," She said pleadingly. Naruto was standing waist-deep in the water; he looked at them and shrugged.

"I don't know, I've never really had friends," He said, the blunt honesty in that statement making Isa's heart twist unhappily.

She glanced at her teammates and frowned. "Well, you do now," She declared.

"I do?" Naruto asked, looking to Sasuke, who didn't look entirely happy to be involved.

"Yeah, of course. The three of us are friends," She said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Oh," Naruto laughed, expression clearing. "Yeah, we are!"

Isa smiled and went back to drawing in the sand. Three days later, the bridge was finished, and they were finally able to leave.

They stood in front of the bridge, the entire village out to see them off. Inari and Naruto were crying, promising to visit as soon as they could.

"Thank you for everything," Kakashi said, smiling at Tazuna, who waved it off.

"We're all in your debt," He said. "Without you four, this bridge would never have been finished. You've given us our courage again, so thank you."

They waved goodbye and left, crossing the bridge eagerly. Isa looked back at the Land of Waves, took one last deep breath of the sea air, and stepped off the bridge with a smile.

* * *

A/N: Here's Chapter 7! And I'm so glad people are enjoying Tempest so far! Writing it is super fun, and I'm having a ton of fun exploring the characters, both Isa and the canon characters. I got a review the other day about how Sasuke is too open to Isa and Naruto, and I had a whole big thing typed up about it, but I decided not to include it because I think it came off as kinda harsh. But suffice to say, constructive criticism is a good thing, and I do take it into account, but one of my main goals in writing this story is creating character depth. I feel like in the show/manga, especially in the beginning, most of the characters were very one-dimensional, which is understandable and totally okay. But I don't want to write one-dimensional characters. I don't think Naruto would realistically be a cheerful, playful kid all the time. I don't think Sasuke would be an asshole every second of every day. I don't feel like that's realistic, and I don't think it does justice to their characters. People are more than what they present themselves as. I want to write characters with depth, and if you feel like that's not something you want to read about, that's fine. Anyway, sorry for the rant, I just wanted to get that out there. Hope everyone likes Chapter 7, Chapter 8 will be out next Wednesday. The rating is probably going to go up to Teen once we hit the Chunin Exams due to language and violence and stuff, so heads up for that, I guess. Thanks for reading, have a nice day, hope you stick around for more!


	8. Chapter 8

___Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters. Isa Yamanaka and any other OC's are mine._

* * *

Waking up in her own bed again took some getting used to. It was disconcerting to wake up and not recognize her own ceiling. After a few days, though, Isa's life was practically back to normal. The Land of Waves seemed like a dream, like it hadn't really happened.

The only real changes were in Ino, who was now leaving the house early each morning so that she could force her team to train, and in Naruto and Sasuke, who seemed hellbent on proving that they were stronger than each other. Isa had hoped that they would start getting along after what they'd been through, and while their relationship wasn't as antagonistic as it used to be, they still vehemently refused to get along.

Isa was sitting at the bottom of the stairs, pulling on her sandals, when her father sat down next to her.

"What are you up to today?" He asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He'd come home late from a mission the night before, long after Isa had gone to bed.

"Training," She replied, slipping her arms around him and hugging him cheerfully. "Kakashi-sensei doesn't want us doing missions until Naruto and Sasuke stop fighting. Yesterday Naruto made Sasuke fall in the river and they almost killed each other."

Inoichi kissed the top of her head fondly, chuckling. "It's a good thing they have you to knock some sense into them."

She shook her head, ponytail swinging. "Naruto doesn't listen to me if he's angry, and he's always angry with Sasuke, and Sasuke only listens to me if he's not around Naruto, and we're always together. Ino's lucky she gets along with Shikamaru and Choji."

Her father snorted. "I don't know about that. She's been dragging them out on missions every day since you got back."

Isa smiled. "Someone has to, otherwise they'd never get anything done." She stood up, ready to go.

"Do you mind if I tag along?" Inoichi asked casually. She glanced at her father questioningly.

"Sure, if you want to. Do you need to talk to Kakashi-sensei?" She asked. Inoichi pulled on his own sandals, joining her at the front door.

"It's nothing important, I just want to ask him something, that's all. You can introduce me to your teammates, too." He said, locking the door behind them.

"Will you stay the whole time?" She asked him, walking alongside him. He plucked a flower from their front garden, tucking it behind her ear gently.

"I wish I could, baby girl. I have to go talk to the Hokage, though. But I can stay for a little while," He said.

The walk to the Third Training Field wasn't a long one, and they arrived right on time. Naruto and Sasuke were already there, standing at opposite sides of the clearing and refusing to look at each other. Sasuke was closer, and he looked up when they approached, eyes flickering to the flower behind her ear.

"It's a coreopsis," She said, interpreting his look correctly. "It means 'cheerful'. Dad, this is Sasuke. Sasuke, this is my dad."

Inoichi offered his hand, and Sasuke shook it, a guarded look in his eyes.

"Nice to meet you, Sasuke. I've heard a lot about you," He said, smiling warmly at the boy.

Sasuke didn't seem to know how to reply, so Isa waved at Naruto. "Naruto, come over here!" He did so, only shooting one or two nasty looks at Sasuke along the way. "And this is Naruto."

Her father shook Naruto's hand, as well. Both boys looked a bit out of their element. _I really have to teach them how to act around parents,_ Isa thought, making a mental reminder to talk to them about it later. _Separately._

"Kakashi-sensei probably won't show up for a while," She said, offering an apologetic smile to her father. He shrugged.

"That's fine, my meeting isn't until later. Kakashi has a habit of being late, doesn't he?" Inoichi asked good-humoredly.

Naruto nodded, hands behind his head. "He's always late."

Inoichi leaned against a tree, arms crossed. "So what do you guys normally do until then?"

Isa glanced at her teammates uncertainly. "Normally we train a little bit or practice some jutsus. Sometimes we don't do anything."

"Alright, well do whatever you want, I'll be here." He smiled at her. She bit her lip and faced Naruto and Sasuke.

"Let's spar," Sasuke said, hands buried in his pockets.

"All three of us?" Isa asked. She wasn't exactly keen on getting in between them if they decided to start trying to actually hurt each other.

"You don't have to if you don't want to. I don't blame you. Sparring with this loser isn't any fun, anyway." Sasuke glowered at Naruto, smirking when the blond boy glared at him, face going red in anger.

She sighed deeply, feeling the beginning of a headache already building behind her eyes. "Fine, let's spar. Try not to kill each other."

They spread out across the clearing. Isa could feel her father watching her closely. She squared her shoulders, slipping into her fighting stance. _Don't let it distract me,_ she thought, blocking out everything that wasn't in the triangle between the three teammates. _Let them start, Sasuke'll go with the Sharingan, Naruto will summon a bunch of shadow clones._

She slipped a handful of shuriken out of her leg holster, eyes darting between Naruto and Sasuke. _Use a genjutsu on Naruto, maybe? Knock him out of the game right away. It won't work on Sasuke, but I can fake him out if he gets too close. Easy to use his emotions against him._

A familiar presence brushed against her mind, and she could hear her father's voice in her head.

"_Don't waste your chakra on jutus, let them wear each other out first. Use their strength against them."_

She smiled, feeling some of the tension ease from her shoulders. It was comforting to feel him there, lingering at the edge of her senses.

She'd watched Naruto and Sasuke spar so often lately that she could almost choreograph the fight before it happened. Clones, Sharingan, more clones, a fire jutsu, clones, kunai, and then a bunch of taijutsu until they knocked each other out.

_This is probably the furthest thing from a healthy team relationship,_ she thought sardonically. They were pummeling each other, forgoing any kind of strategy. She formed a series of hand signs, focusing intently. Genjutsu was a powerful tool, but not many shinobi had either the interest or the capacity to learn it.

The genjutsu she used was a simple one, designed to remain inconspicuous. It affected the eyesight of the victim, inducing a vertigo-like state. Naruto started stumbling, his swings going wide. He shook his head, trying to refocus. Isa almost felt bad for him when Sasuke hit him square across the face and sent him crashing into a tree.

He smirked. "Genjutsu won't work on me, Isa." He looked at her, eyes bright red. He flickered, and then he was in front of her. She was ready for him.

"Ninja Art: Hidden Mist Jutsu." The fog that coalesced around them was thicker than any she'd produced before. She felt a surge of pride as she ghosted through the air, flinging the shuriken at Sasuke's feet.

He leapt backward, out of the mist, eyes narrowed, darting everywhere. She was behind him, striking low to sweep his feet out from under him. He flipped over her neatly, dodging a series of quick kunai throws.

He could have hit her any time he wanted, she knew. She was nowhere near as fast as he was, and now he was just evading her attacks until she tired herself out.

_Don't get cocky,_ she thought, sending a surge of chakra to her arms. She lashed out, kunai a blur of steel, and cut a clean line along his cheek.

He hissed, slipping out of her reach. He was more careful now, caution tempering the smirk on his lips. When he finally struck, he hit hard. His fist landed in her stomach, knocking the air out of her lungs and sending her tumbling backwards.

It hurt, and the tears of pain in her eyes weren't necessarily fake. She whimpered weakly, struggling to get to her feet. Her legs gave out and she crashed back to the ground, spitting out blood.

He was hesitating, eyes clouding with worry. "Isa?" He stepped closer. _One more._ "I wasn't trying to hit you that hard." She ignored the guilt that pricked at her. _Just a little more, come on._ He took the step, hand reaching out to help her. In a flash, she was on him, flipping onto his chest, her momentum carrying both of them to the ground.

She landed with one leg pressed against his neck, kunai flush against his cheek. She grinned wickedly. "Gotcha."

His eyes were wide, the Sharingan gone. He looked caught between surprise and laughter, so he settled on a grin. "Are you showing off just because your dad's here?"

She rolled off of him, popped up to her feet and held out her hand for him to take. "Shut up, I just beat both of you, it's my turn to gloat."

He let her pull him to his feet. "Just don't let it go to your head."

She snorted. "You're one to talk."

Naruto jogged over to them, no worse for wear after being thrown into a tree. "Man, I didn't think you could beat us, Isa!"

"If you guys hadn't been busy trying to murder each other, you could have come up with a strategy to beat me, too." She said, looking pointedly at them. At least Naruto had the decency to look ashamed.

"You've already been fighting, and we haven't even started training yet. I think this is a new record." Kakashi was standing next to Inoichi, a resigned sort of look in his eye.

"We were just sparring," Sasuke said dismissively. He wiped at the cut on his cheek, fingers coming away bloody.

She winced at him. "Sorry."

He shrugged, mouth turning up in a smirk. "Don't be. You're faster than I was expecting."

She grinned, chest puffing up proudly. "That's my girl," Inoichi said, looping an arm around her shoulders.

"So what are we doing today, Kakashi-sensei?" She asked, peering around her father to look at her sensei.

He ran a hand through his hair and shrugged. "I don't know how much training we'll be able to get done until those two work out their issues," He said, nodding at Naruto and Sasuke. "So I was just gonna let you guys off for today."

"What?! We're not gonna train?" Naruto cried, dismayed. "What are we supposed to do, then?"

"Do whatever you want, it's your day off," Kakashi said.

Sasuke sighed, arms crossed over his chest. "What a waste of time."

"We can still train without Kakashi-sensei here," Isa pointed out reasonably. "Just as long as we don't go overboard."

Sasuke shook his head. "If we have to be careful about how far we push ourselves, we're not going to get any better."

"You can go visit your sister," Inoichi suggested. Isa leaned against him, sighing.

"I don't want to disrupt their training, though," She said.

"She's on a team with Shikamaru, right?" Naruto asked. He snorted. "They're not getting any work done. That guy is the laziest person I've ever met."

She glanced at Sasuke, unsure. "That's probably true. I guess I'll go visit them. You guys can come too, and we can go to lunch or something."

Naruto appeared to be completely on board with the idea. Sasuke, significantly less so.

"If we go to lunch, we'll have to get ramen because this loser refuses to eat anything else." He jerked a thumb at Naruto, who glared at him.

"I do not, ramen's just the best! Why would you eat anything else when you could be eating ramen?" Naruto reasoned.

Inoichi laughed, squeezing Isa's shoulder before letting go. "Just be home in time for dinner, alright, Isa? Kakashi, I've got a meeting with the Hokage, but I wanted to ask you about something."

"Sure," Kakashi said, pocketing his book. "See you kids later." He waved at them and left, walking beside Inoichi.

Isa watched them go, then turned to her teammates with her hands on her hips, face darkening. "Okay, you guys have got to get over this stupid rivalry thing, I'm tired of it."

Sasuke scoffed. "It's only a rivalry if the other person is actual competition."

Naruto looked ready to hit something. "Shut up, Sasuke! I'm just as strong as you are!"

Isa huffed irritably and spun, grabbing each of them, and hauling them out of the clearing. "We're gonna go find Team Ten now and everyone is going to get along."

Both boys grumbled, but didn't fight her, letting her drag them to the Twelfth Training Field, where Team Ten practiced. It was on the other side of the village, but it was the closest training ground to the Sarutobi compound, where Asuma Sarutobi lived.

They found Team Ten, predictably, laying in the sun. Shikamaru appeared to be asleep, laying underneath a tree with his hands behind his head. Choji was eating chips, listening to Ino regale him with the latest gossip. Asuma Sarutobi was lounging on the grass, a cigarette dangling from his lips. He looked up when they approached, waving lazily.

"Oh, look, it's the great Team Seven. You know, they've done an A-rank mission," He said, smiling mischievously when Ino shot him a nasty look. "Guys, why haven't we done an A-rank mission?"

"Because you all suck," Ino said, jabbing Shikamaru in the stomach. He groaned and curled onto his side, away from her.

"They didn't know it was an A-rank mission, though, so it doesn't count," Choji said through a mouthful of chips.

Isa sat down on the grass beside her sister. Naruto and Sasuke hovered behind her awkwardly. She looked back at them and rolled her eyes. "Sit down, I'm not gonna beat you up."

"I dunno, you were holding my arm pretty hard on the way over here," Naruto said, plopping down next to her. "I think I have a bruise."

Shikamaru shook his head. "Women."

"Shikamaru, the only reason women don't like you is because you treat them like they're delicate, useless little flowers," Ino said. Shikamaru frowned at her.

"Sorry that I don't like fighting girls," He grouched.

Isa giggled. "You don't like fighting anybody, though."

He grinned and sat up. "What are you guys doing here, anyway?"

"Kakashi-sensei gave us the day off," Isa said.

Asuma looked surprised. "Kakashi did? That's weird."

"Yeah, these two can't spend more than five minutes together before trying to rip each others faces off." She glared at Naruto and Sasuke. Naruto laughed, running a hand through his hair cheerfully.

"Aw, come on, we're not that bad," He said, glancing at Sasuke. Sasuke looked bored, shredding grass between his fingers, but a fight didn't seem imminent. Isa breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

"Man, I'm glad none of us ever fight," Choji said.

"It'd be kinda funny, though, if you did. I think you'd just break everyone," Isa said.

He grinned. "Yeah, you're right. I'd break Shikamaru for sure."

Shikamaru looked a little dejected. "What, that makes me the weakest person in the group?"

"Obviously," Ino said, inspecting her fingernails smugly.

Asuma snorted and stood up. "Alright, I'm heading out. Don't get into too much trouble." He wandered off, waving goodbye.

Ino flopped over, landing in Isa's lap. "So what do you wanna do now?" She asked.

Isa shrugged. "I was thinking about going to the Archive Library." Her statement was met with a chorus of groans from Team Ten.

"I told you, I'm never going back there with you," Shikamaru said resolutely. "We were there for six hours that one time."

"We were not there for six hours! It was only, like, three hours." Isa stuck out her bottom lip pleadingly. "Please?"

"Why do you want to go to the Archives?" Naruto asked, confused.

"Isa's a bookworm," Ino said teasingly, poking her sister in the side. Isa giggled and pushed Ino off of her lap.

"The Archives are cool!" She said, frowning at her friends in mock anger.

"Pretty sure you're the only person who thinks so," Shikamaru drawled.

Isa grumbled under her breath. "You guys are the worst."

Choji frowned at his empty bag of chips. "Can we get lunch? I'm hungry."

Shikamaru stood up, stretching idly. "Yeah, let's go. You guys coming?"

Isa nodded, joining him. Naruto and Sasuke followed suit without a word, apparently both content to be part of the group, at least for now. _I think this is the longest I've seen them hang out around other kids,_ Isa thought, a little sadly. Naruto seemed perfectly at ease; Sasuke was as gloomy as he always was, but he didn't appear to outright hate walking alongside them, so Isa considered it a successful social outing so far.

They wandered through the village, chatting carelessly, until they paused, their progress blocked by a box in the middle of the road. It would have been unremarkable, except this box had eye-holes and was painted to look like a rock.

Isa blinked in surprise when Naruto marched forward, pointing at the box dramatically. "Hey, I told you to stop following me! And that's the worst disguise ever! What kind of rock has square corners?"

Someone inside the box laughed. "You're smart, boss, saw right through my disguise. Just what I'd expect from my arch rival!"

Isa glanced at Sasuke, who looked as confused as she felt. _I thought Sasuke was Naruto's arch rival, though._

There were three explosions of smoke and the box disappeared, revealing three kids standing in its place. They were young, no older than ten, and were all sporting goggles reminiscent of the ones Naruto had worn before he'd gotten his forehead protector.

"We're Udon, Moegi, and Konohamaru, and we're the Konohamaru Ninja Squad!" They formed theatrical action poses, holding them for a long moment.

"The Konohamaru Ninja Squad?" Ino repeated, eyebrows raised. "You're like six years old, are you even students at the Academy yet?"

"We're nine years old, and yeah, we are students at the Academy!" The black-haired boy, who seemed to be the ringleader, said proudly. _That must be Konohamaru,_ Isa guessed. _Why would you name a ninja squad after yourself, anyway?_

"What do you guys want?" Naruto asked, hands behind his head. He looked disinterested in the three ninja trainees.

"What do you mean, what do we want? You promised you'd play ninja with us today!" The little girl said, looking up at him with her best puppy dog eyes.

"You play ninja with little kids?" Sasuke asked scornfully. "What a loser."

Naruto ignored him. "I can't play today, sorry."

"Why not?" Konohamaru asked, frowning. He glanced at the group standing behind Naruto. "Are you ditching us to hang out with these guys? They don't look very cool."

Ino looked scandalized. "Not cool?! We're the coolest people in this village!"

Shikamaru sighed. "These kids are annoying."

"Well, I've got a way to make sure you'll play with us!" Konohamaru declared, jumping up and snatching the forehead protector right off of Naruto's head. He took off, with Naruto in hot pursuit. They didn't get more than ten steps before Konohamaru collided with someone who had just rounded the corner, bouncing off of the person and landing on the ground.

"Hey, kid, watch it." The boy who spoke was tall, and wore a hood, his face decorated with purple paint. A girl with spiky blonde hair stood beside him, a huge fan strapped to her back. The symbols on their forehead protectors were unfamiliar.

_Foreign ninja? What are they doing here?_ Isa tensed, feeling her friends do the same around her. The hooded boy stooped, grabbing Konohamaru's shirt and yanking him to eye-level.

"Let him go!" Naruto said, voice rising in alarm.

The blonde girl looked on disdainfully. "Put him down, Kankuro. He's not worth your time."

"Aw, come on, Temari, let's have some fun," The boy, Kankuro, said, grinning wickedly.

Isa stepped forward, laying a hand on Naruto's arm. He was glaring intently at Kankuro, by all means ready for a fight.

"You're not from Konoha. Foreign ninja are only allowed in the village if they have signed admission papers, and they're removed if they try to cause any trouble." She caught Kankuro's eye, eyes narrowed dangerously.

"So where are your admission papers?" Ino asked, moving to stand beside her sister.

"Why should we have to prove anything to a bunch of weak little kids?" Kankuro challenged, smirking at them.

"Because if you're here without authorization, it could be seen as an attack against the Leaf Village, and that would cause a war," Shikamaru said. His hands were in his pockets, his eyes half-lidded with boredom, but his voice was sharp. "You'd never make it out of the village alive."

"Yeah? And who's gonna stop us? You?" Kankuro asked. He was sizing them up, evidently unimpressed by what he saw.

"You're an idiot, and you're out of your league." Sasuke was smirking, twirling a kunai effortlessly through his fingers.

"Put him down," Isa said, voice steely. "And show us your admission papers. Now."

Kankuro chuckled and let Konohamaru drop. The boy scrambled back quickly into the arms of his two friends.

"You're annoying, all of you. You know what I do to annoying people?" Kankuro reached up to he strap on his back. Isa let her feet shift into a better stance, focusing her chakra for a genjutsu.

"Are you serious, Kankuro? You're gonna use _that_ on a bunch of genin?" Temari was frowning at him, disapproval in her eyes.

"Kankuro, back off." There was a new voice suddenly, its owner materializing on the branch of a nearby tree. He had brilliant red hair and looked younger than the other two ninja, about Isa's age, but the chakra that was radiating off of him made her go cold. _There's so much of it; it doesn't even feel human! Who is this kid? __**What**__ is he?_

Kankuro and Temari both froze, eyes going wide. "Uh, hey, Gaara," Kankuro said, all ferocity abruptly gone. He smiled nervously. "Sorry, these kids were just trying to cause trouble."

"You're pathetic," The red-haired boy said, voice cold and detached. Kankuro swallowed hard. Isa could feel the fear rolling off of him and Temari.

"Yeah, you're right," Kankuro hurriedly agreed. "I was totally out of line. Sorry, Gaara."

Gaara stared at him without feeling, blue eyes rimmed in thick black eyeliner. "Shut up," He said. "Or I'll kill you."

Isa felt her mouth drop open in shock. The air had gone cold, and everyone was very still. _You could hear a pin drop. And the feeling that kid's giving off... I've never felt bloodlust like that before._

Gaara slowly looked over at their group. They were frozen, hands halfway to their weapons, watching him carefully.

"I'm sorry for any trouble he caused," Gaara said. He disappeared in a shower of sand, reappearing next to Temari and Kankuro. "Let's go."

"Wait," Isa said. They paused, glancing back at her. "Your admission papers."

Temari snorted, fishing around in her jacket and producing a signed paper. "We're from the Village Hidden in the Sand, we're here for the Chunin Exams."

"Chunin Exams?" Naruto echoed.

"What, have you guys been living under a rock or something?" Temari asked, smirking. "Maybe your sensei's don't think you're ready for the exam."

"Oh, we're ready, alright!" Naruto said, glaring at her.

"See you at the exams, then." She turned and followed the other two Sand ninja. They turned a corner and were gone, leaving behind a distinctly unsettled atmosphere.

"That kid," Sasuke muttered, kunai still in hand. "What is he?"

"I don't know, but I don't want to find out." Shikamaru said, all traces of boredom gone. He was still leaning against the wall, but he didn't looked remotely tired; Isa could see the wheels turning in his head.

"He felt wrong, somehow," Ino said thoughtfully.

Isa nodded in agreement. "I don't know how he can be considered a genin, not with the amount of power that was rolling off of him."

"I feel bad for whoever has to fight them in the Exams," Choji said, frowning after the Sand ninja. "They seemed really ruthless."

"Why didn't we know about the Chunin Exams?" Ino pouted. "Does Asuma-sensei think we're not ready for it?"

Shikamaru pushed off the wall, shoving his hands in his pockets. "If these guys didn't know, either, then chances are none of the sensei's knew about it," He said, jerking a thumb at Team Seven.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.

"You three completed an A-rank mission, it'd be stupid not to put you in the Exams." Naruto visibly brightened at that. Shikamaru sighed, adopting his customary expression of boredom once more. "Whatever, talking about this a drag. Let's go get lunch."

Choji nodded emphatically. "We'll have plenty of time to find out about the Exams later, anyway."

"Yeah, and lunch only comes once a day!" Naruto agreed, grinning, their encounter already forgotten.

Choji laughed, slapping him on the shoulder. "Exactly! Man, this guy gets me! We need to hang out more often."

"Don't worry," Isa said, staring at the hawk circling in the sky above them. "I get the feeling we're gonna be seeing a lot of each other soon."

* * *

A/N: So there's Chapter 8! I know we didn't actually get to the Chunin Exams in this one, so it was kind of a filler chapter, but I promise we'll get there next week. As always, hope you enjoy, and Chapter 9 will be out next Wednesday.


	9. Chapter 9

___Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters. Isa Yamanaka and any other OC's are mine._

* * *

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto shouted, waving at their teacher. Isa stood up, unfolding herself from the ground, where she'd been reading for the past few hours. Sasuke winced at their teammate's exuberance.

"Naruto, shut up," He grumbled, shoulders hunched. His dark eyes were narrowed in a glare, squinting into the sunlight gloomily. Isa pressed her lips together tightly, trying not to smile. _Someone's not a morning person._

Naruto shot him a dirty look. "What's your problem?"

"Just be quiet," Sasuke said, fixing Naruto with a dour look. "It's too early for this," He muttered, crossing his arms over his chest and distancing himself from Naruto. He reminded Isa of an unhappy black kitten, and she quickly disguised a giggle as a cough.

"Good morning, kids." Kakashi greeted them. He seemed remarkably upbeat despite the early hour. _Well, he is three hours late. _Isa yawned, leaning against the railing of the bridge. _And he told us to get here bright and early, too. What a jerk._ Kakashi didn't seem to mind that two members of his team were ready to fall asleep on their feet. "How do you guys feel about competitions?" He asked.

Naruto perked up immediately. "A competition? What kind of competition?"

"Well, the Chunin Exams are coming up and I've recommended that the three of you take part," Kakashi explained, brandishing three slips of paper. "You don't have to do it, obviously. But if you do, then all you have to do is sign at the bottom and turn the paper into the registration office next week."

"You're giving us a whole week to decide if we want to do this?" Isa asked, perplexed. "That's a lot of time, isn't it?"

Kakashi shrugged. "It'll give you time to prepare."

"Prepare for what?" Sasuke asked.

"The exam, of course." Kakashi said, smiling cheerfully at the surly boy.

Sasuke fixed him with a deadpan stare. "That's not what I meant."

Isa took one of the papers, reading it over. "So we won't know anything about our opponents beforehand?"

"Not until you walk into the examination hall, no." Kakashi confirmed.

"Except for those Sand guys," Naruto chimed in. "We know about them."

"Is that why you weren't surprised to find out about the Exams? I was hoping for more of a reaction," Kakashi said. He sounded a little disappointed, and Isa patted his arm comfortingly.

"I'm sorry they ruined your surprise, Kakashi-sensei. Are we going to be doing regular training for the Exams or are we training on our own?" She asked, tucking the application form into her jacket.

Kakashi considered the question, looking up at the sky. "Well, I was going to let you train on your own, since your teamwork has been so terrible lately."

Sasuke grunted, clearly still upset that he had to be awake so early. "Good. I don't want to train with that loser, anyway." He glowered at Naruto, who glared right back.

Isa sighed, rubbing her forehead wearily. "Can we go, then?" She wasn't particularly keen on spending any more time listening to Naruto and Sasuke bicker. She'd spent more than enough time trying to sort out their arguments over the last few days. _Besides, if I go home now, I might be able to get some leftover breakfast._ She stomach grumbled at the thought of food.

"Nobody has any questions about the Exams?" Kakashi asked. They shook their heads. He shrugged, and waved them off. "Alright, go do something productive, and don't forget to turn in your application forms on time."

They parted ways, taking off in separate directions. Isa flipped open her book, a weighty tome detailing nature transformations. She walked slowly along the side of the canal, eyes on her book. Her bottom lip was between her teeth, brows creased in concentration. _Water-based jutsus are amplified by wind transformations, huh? Strong against fire, but weak against earth. Hmm... is sand an extension of an earth technique, or does it even qualify as a nature transformation?_ She frowned, almost missing the chakra presence drawing near her.

Her book snapped shut as the ninja appeared in front of her. His forehead protector was marked with four parallel lines, and he wore a wide-brimmed hat. She stared at him, eyebrow raised. _I really need to brush up on the village symbols. Is it impolite to ask where they're from? Probably._

The man chuckled ominously. "What have we here? Is this what passes for a ninja in the Hidden Leaf?"

Her eyes narrowed infinitesimally. "What do you want?" She asked, sizing up the man in front of her with a cautious, appraising gaze.

He sneered at her. "What do I want? I want you to back out of the Chunin Exams."

"Why? So some loser like you can go in and sweep the competition?" She let her mouth curl into a smirk, hoping that she could pull of the vaguely menacing expression that Sasuke often wore. The ninja didn't seem to be intimidated by her, but that was unsurprising. She didn't exactly have the look to pull off 'frightening shinobi'.

"You brat!" The man spat, bristling at her words. "I'll teach you what a real ninja is capable of!" He lunged at her, swinging wide. She ducked, bobbing and weaving between his attacks, not once moving to strike back.

He growled in frustration. "Scared to fight me, little girl?"

She might have rolled her eyes if she hadn't been busy avoiding his kick. "I don't want to hurt you," She said, hopping out of reach, flicking her bangs out of her face neatly.

His mouth twisted in a snarl. "You couldn't hurt me even if you tried!"

She pursed her lips, the barest edge of irritation in her eyes. Without warning, she leaned back, snapping her leg out and catching him directly in the solar plexus. He stumbled back, falling ot his knees, trying desperately to suck air into his lungs.

One hand was on her hip, the other still holding her book, perfectly at ease, as if she hadn't just kicked a grown man in the chest. "Do I pass your test, Iruka-sensei?"

He stared at her in stunned silence for a minute, waiting until he could breathe normally again before responding. "How'd you know it was me?" He asked, voice changing as the man in front of her shimmered, dissipating and reforming into the familiar form of Iruka. He was grinning at her sheepishly.

"I recognized your chakra before you got here," She said, offering him a hand. He took it and she helped pull him to his feet. "I thought about using a genjutsu on you, but it was too much work."

"You were going to ambush me while I ambushed you?" He sounded impressed.

She shrugged, nonchalant. "Don't you know it's hard to sneak up on someone who can feel you coming?" She smiled at him, then shuddered, suddenly dissolving into a puddle of water. Iruka stared at the spot she'd been, face caught between shock and surprise.

"I did decide to use a water clone, though. Just in case." Isa waved cheerfully from the branch of a nearby tree, legs swinging beneath her.

Iruka gaped at her. "You can make water clones? What has Kakashi been teaching you?!"

"Kakashi-sensei didn't teach me that one," She said, hopping down nimbly from the tree. "I've been researching water transformation jutsus ever since we got back from the Land of Waves. That's one of the ones I've been practicing."

Iruka was flabbergasted. "Kakashi said you've been working hard, but I didn't expect any of you to have made this much progress. I guess it makes sense that he put you three up for the Chunin Exams."

"You've already visited Naruto and Sasuke?" She asked. He nodded. "That's why your chakra's a little low, then. You should get some rest, Iruka-sensei. You don't need to worry about us, we'll be fine."

He smiled a little sadly. "Yeah, I know that now. Nice kick, by the way." He rubbed his chest, wincing.

She giggled, not the slightest bit guilty. "I'm sorry, but you kinda deserve it for trying to trick me like that."

He shook his head fondly. "Point taken. And I'm sorry about the surprise attack, but I had to know that you were ready to take these Exams. They're not like the Genin Exams, they're tough, they're going to really test you."

"Trust me, Iruka-sensei, we can handle this." She met his eyes confidently, then grinned cheekily. "You're not gonna sneak up on me again after this, are you?"

He laughed. "No, I'm done sneaking up on people. Get out of here. And, Isa, be careful." His parting words were sincere, and her grin softened to a genuine smile.

"I will, I promise." She turned and continued on her path, waving over her shoulder. Iruka watched her go, a proud smile on his face.

The next week passed by in a blur of training. If Isa wasn't practicing by herself, she was with Ino and the rest of Team Ten. She saw little of her own teammates, both too absorbed in their own solitary training to involve themselves in hers. But when registration day came, they were both waiting at the bridge for her.

"You ready for this?" She asked them, walking between them on their way to the Academy.

"Of course! It's gonna be great!" Naruto was, as usual, excited, practically bouncing as he walked. The Academy was full of genin when they got there, and they joined the throng, migrating slowly up the stairs.

They paused on the second floor, Isa tugging at her teammate's sleeves until they stopped.

"Why are all those people crowded over there?" She wondered aloud, pointing at a large group of people gathered near a doorway. The sign above the door said '301'. "There's a genjutsu on the door, or at least on the sign," She said, recognizing the faint shimmer in the air almost instantly.

Sasuke shouldered through the crowd, Isa and Naruto following close behind. In front of the door stood two kids about their age. They were smiling smugly at a boy wearing a green jumpsuit, who was sitting on the floor, a fist-shaped mark on his face. A girl in a pink shirt was crouched next to him, frowning at the two boys.

"Hey, we need to get in that room!" She said, moving toward them. The boys both rolled their eyes, one of them halting her progress with a swift left hook. She fell the to the ground beside her friend, wincing. Uneasy murmurs ran through the crowd.

"Yeah, you think this is bad, just wait until the Exams. You can't just walk in there and expect to become a chunin. Some of you won't even survive the exam, and even if you do, you could still get hurt so bad that you'll never be able to be a ninja again," One of them said.

"You've gotta be smart and capable to be a chunin," The other one added.

_Well, they're not subtle at all,_ Isa thought, armed crossed. _Probably planted here to try and scare away the weak candidates._

Sasuke was staring at them, unimpressed. "Let us by, and drop the genjutsu. We know this is the second floor, not the third."

The boys traded a look, grinning. The genjutsu around the doorway faded to surprised gasps from the crowd. A boy with long brown hair sniffed in disdain, offering a hand to the girl in pink. He looked up and caught Isa's eyes. _A Hyuuga,_ she realized. His milky violet eyes were a dead giveaway. _So he's the one to beat, then. _A Hyuuga was going to have an advantage over almost anyone they went up against. Isa hadn't taken the time to learn the details of their abilities, but she knew that their Byakugan was easily as powerful as the Uchiha's Sharingan, and their Gentle Fist technique made them formidable opponents.

"So, you're smart enough to notice an illusion. But are you fast enough to notice this?!" One of the fake-chunins asked, before the other was moving, rushing toward Sasuke.

Isa didn't even bother moving to protect him. Sasuke shifted smoothly, leg pulling up for a kick. But the hit never landed. The boy the green jumpsuit, who had just been staggering off of the floor, was between them in an instant, holding them back with his bare hands.

"Woah, how'd you do that so fast?" Naruto asked, amazed.

The boy who'd attacked Sasuke leapt away as soon as he was able, vanishing with his friend.

"What happened to keeping a low profile and scoping out the competition?" The Hyuuga boy asked, approaching them. The rest of the crowd dispersed now that the spectacle was over.

"I am sorry, Neji, but I could not let them fight. It would not have been honorable!" The boy in the jumpsuit exclaimed. He was strange, besides the obvious fact that he was wearing a green jumpsuit. His hair was cut into a perfect, shiny bowlcut, and his eyebrows were obscenely thick. He didn't look like ninja material, but his arms were wrapped in bandages, and a forehead protector sat around his waist.

"What's your name?" Isa asked him.

"My name is Rock Lee, and these are my teammates Neji Hyuuga and Tenten. I have not seen you before, what is your name?" The boy asked, fixing her with a winning smile. Sasuke was watching him with narrowed eyes.

"I'm Isa Yamanaka," She replied.

Lee flashed her a thumbs-up. "It is good to meet you, Isa Yamanaka!"

"Lee, let's go," The girl, Tenten, said. "We're gonna be late."

"Wait," The Hyuuga boy was sizing them up carefully. "You. Who are you?" He was staring at Sasuke expectantly.

"Sasuke Uchiha," Sasuke said, tone almost daring Neji to challenge him. _He just wants to fight everybody. He's almost as bad as Naruto,_ Isa thought with an inward sigh of exasperation.

"And I'm Naruto Uzumaki, best ninja in the Hidden Leaf! Believe it!" Naruto said, interjecting loudly.

Neji barely even looked at him. His attention was focused on Sasuke. "You're a rookie, aren't you?"

Sasuke smirked. "Why? Worried I might be able to beat you?"

Neji's eyes were cold, detached, and slightly condescending. "Hardly."

Tenten rolled her eyes. "Guys, can we please go now? We don't have time to fight right now."

"She's right," Isa said, grabbing Sasuke's arm in warning. He glanced at her. "You can beat each other up later," She said quietly, so only he could hear. He hesitated, but let her pull him away. She snagged the collar of Naruto's jacket and dragged him along as well, ignoring his protests.

They were almost to the stairs when someone called out, "Stop!"

Isa stopped at the foot of the stairs, looking over her shoulder to find Lee hurrying up to them. His teammates were gone, and he was frowning at Sasuke intently.

"What do you want?" Sasuke asked.

"I would like to challenge you to a fight," Lee said, entirely serious.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow contemptuously. "Not interested."

"Man, how come no one ever wants to fight me?" Naruto whined. "I'll fight him if you won't!"

Lee spared a glance at the blond shinobi. "No thank you, I do not want to fight you. I would like to see how my skills match up to a member of the Uchiha clan."

"You think you can take me on?" Sasuke asked, arrogance dripping from every syllable.

"I am confident that I can, yes." Lee replied. He settled into a meditative stance, utterly calm. Irritation flashed through Sasuke's eyes.

"Fine, let's do this." He stepped forward, slipping into his own battle stance.

Isa settled against the wall, dragging Naruto away from the two boys. "I'm stopping the fight if either of you go too far," She said. "And try to hurry, we don't have a lot of time."

"You're just gonna let them do this?" Naruto asked. "I thought you'd try to convince Sasuke to let it go."

She shrugged. "It's not my body he's beating to a pulp. Just as long as he doesn't make us late." She glanced at Naruto thoughtfully. "I'm actually surprised that you're not trying to fight him, too."

He laughed, running a hand through his hair. "I was going to. And then I remembered how you beat us the other day when we were sparring, and you said that if I hadn't rushed in, I might have been able to make a strategy and win. So I started thinking of a plan, but then I realized that you would probably just not fight at all." He shrugged, grinning at her. "You have to teach me how to be smart, though, because so far it's really boring."

She giggled, bumping his shoulder with her own. "Aw, Naruto, look at you, you're growing up!" He turned pink, grinning proudly.

Sasuke and Lee were staring each other down. "I must warn you, I am the strongest genin in the Leaf Village," Lee said.

Sasuke sneered at him. "Yeah? Prove it."

Isa could feel him sending chakra to his feet, but when he moved, a blur of motion, Lee was already gone. Sasuke's fist sailed through the empty air, eyes widening in surprise. Lee was beside him in an instant, a kick catching Sasuke in the ribs.

He grunted in pain, skidding across the floor. When he looked up again, his eyes were red, Sharingan blazing. He was already disassembling Lee's technique, eyes tracking his movement faster than any normal human could. But the Sharingan could only do so much, and Lee's next hit glanced off of Sasuke's shoulder.

_He can see it coming, but he can't react fast enough to counter it,_ Isa realized. Sasuke apparently hadn't come to the same conclusion, because he was charging at Lee again. They traded blows, though technically Lee was the only one who actually hit anything. All of Sasuke's attacks missed, a fraction too slow to touch his opponent. In the blink of an eye, Lee leaned back, kicking Sasuke in the jaw. He tumbled through the air, crashing to the ground in a heap.

He picked himself up slowly, breathing heavily. Lee hardly even seemed winded.

"You are very fast," He said, resuming his meditative stance. "I have heard of the power of the Sharingan; it is remarkable that it allows you to keep up with me. But this is a fight you cannot win."

"I haven't lost yet," Sasuke bit out, teeth clenched in frustration.

"Yes, but you are at a disadvantage," Lee said. "My skill does not lie in ninjutsu or genjutsu, but taijutsu. The Sharingan is able to read an opponent's chakra, hand signs, and movement. You know what they are doing almost before they do. But even if you can read my moves, you cannot react to them. You are too slow."

"That's amazing," Isa muttered. She was watching Lee, intensely curious. "To be able to beat a dojutsu through sheer speed is insane."

"I believe that there are two kinds of ninja," Lee said, staring solemnly at Sasuke. "Those like you, who are born with talent and do not have to work at it. And those like me, the ones who have to train every day of our lives."

Sasuke was glaring at him, and took off running. Lee dodged his punch and kicked him again, sending him flying. He appeared behind Sasuke in mid-air, the bandages on his arms unraveling. His chakra flared, and Isa took an involuntary step forward. She didn't have time to reach for a kunai, though, because something was already flying through the air, pinning Lee's bandages to the wall.

_A... pinwheel?_ She stared at it, and then at the gigantic turtle who'd thrown it.

"Alright, that's enough!" It said. If turtles could frown, she imagined that it was probably doing so now. He spun, angling away from Sasuke, and landed neatly in front of the turtle.

But Sasuke was still falling. Isa grabbed a kunai and, without thinking, threw it, catching his shirt and pinning him against the wall. She ran over, wrenching it out of the wall. His feet hit the floor and his knees buckled.

"You okay?" She asked, peering anxiously at his face. His Sharingan was gone, and bruises were already beginning to darken across his face. He nodded, letting her pull him to his feet. He wobbled, unsteady, and she tugged his arm around her shoulders, ignoring his grimace of protest.

The turtle was speaking again. "That last technique is forbidden, Lee! You know that!"

Lee was staring at the ground, ashamed. "I am sorry."

Naruto was staring open-mouthed at the talking turtle. "You guys..." He slipped over to them, pointing at the turtle. "That's a turtle, right?"

"Yes, Naruto, that's a turtle," Isa replied dryly.

"So... is the turtle his sensei?" He asked.

They watched Lee spout off excuses; the turtle didn't appear to be moved by any of them. "You're a disgrace! A shinobi never reveals his techniques unless absolutely necessary! It's such a basic rule, you should know it by now. Are you prepared to take the punishment for your actions?"

"Yes, sir," Lee said humbly.

"Then please come out, Guy-sensei!" There was a puff of smoke and when it cleared, there was a man standing on top of the turtle, striking a theatrical pose. He grinned, teeth sparkling.

Isa's mouth dropped open. He was a mirror image of Lee, complete with the green jumpsuit, orange leg warmers, bowlcut, and huge eyebrows. It was terrifying.

"Hey! What's shaking, everybody? Hi, Lee!" He exclaimed, flashing a thumbs-up and winking at his student.

"Are you serious?" Sasuke muttered, torn between disgust and confusion. "What a freak."

Lee whirled, fist clenched. "Do not insult Guy-sensei! He is the great ninja to ever live!"

"He crawled out from under a turtle! How are we supposed to take him seriously?!" Naruto yelled, gesturing wildly at the man, who was still standing on top of the aforementioned turtle.

"He did not crawl out!" Lee shouted.

"Give it a rest, Lee," Guy said, waving his hand carelessly. "But now, for your punishment!" He reared back and punched Lee in the face, sending him soaring through the air.

Isa, Naruto, and Sasuke gaped at him. Guy knelt in front of his student. "I'm sorry, Lee, but it's for your own good." Suddenly, he was choked up, tears running down his face.

"S-sensei!" Lee was crying, too.

"Oh, Lee!"

"Oh, sensei!"

Guy sniffed. "Alright, it's over, you don't need to say any more!"

Lee sobbed loudly, throwing himself into his teacher's arms. They cried hysterically for a few very long, very uncomfortable minutes.

… _What? Is this even real? Who acts like this?_ Isa glanced at her teammates, who seemed equally disturbed.

Guy stood up abruptly, gripping Lee's shoulders. "You're just caught in the middle, too old to be a boy, too young to be a man."

Lee stared up at his sensei with shining eyes. "You are so good to me, Guy-sensei!"

Guy grinned, still crying. "Now go give me a hundred laps around the practice field! Show me what you got!"

"Yes, sir! No problem!" Lee, also still crying, looked into the distance with determination.

"Run into the setting sun! Run and _suffer!_ But don't mess up your hair," Guy added quickly. They grinned at each other, teeth sparkling identically. "Let us go!"

They started to leave purposefully, but Naruto jumped forward. "Hey, wait! Where are you guys going? And what about the Chunin Exams?"

Guy paused, swiveling to face them. "Oh, right. I forgot about that." He looked at Lee. "Lee, you not only disobeyed the rule about fighting, but you also disrupted the Chunin Exams. I think that warrants a slightly more severe punishment, don't you?"

Lee saluted sharply. "Yes, sir!"

Guy struck a pose. "Let's say five-hundred laps, how does that sound?!"

"Outstanding, sir!" Lee cried.

Guy looked up at them, the first sign of something other than exuberance in his eyes. "You're Kakashi's kids, right? Tell me, how is Kakashi-sensei?"

"You know Kakashi-sensei?" Isa asked slowly. _Why would Kakashi-sensei know a guy like this? Kakashi-sensei is always cool and lazy. This guy is... weird._

"Do I know Kakashi?" Guy chuckled, a hand on his chin. "Well, people say he and I are arch rivals for all eternity."

They blinked at him, dumbfounded. "You... and Kakashi-sensei... are arch rivals?" Naruto repeated.

"We are engaged in an ultimate life-long competition. My record is fifty wins and forty-nine losses," He said, smiling dazzlingly. He looked at Sasuke, and Isa felt her teammate tense. "I am sorry for the trouble Lee caused you. Look into my eyes and accept my sincerest apologies. Also notice my handsome, manly features."

Sasuke was frozen to Isa's side, horrified.

"Lee, why don't you accompany these fine young ninja to the registration hall?" He suggested. Lee nodded, re-wrapping the bandages on his arms.

_He's all bruised,_ Isa thought, noticing the blotchy bruises and callouses all over his skin. _His training must be crazy in order to get bruised like that._

"Remember to keep your youthful spirit, Lee. Farewell!" Guy flashed one last brilliant grin and then he and the turtle both disappeared in bursts of smoke.

There was a somewhat awkward silence while Lee finished wrapping his bandages. "I apologize, Sasuke, but I have not been totally honest with you," He said, looking at them regretfully. "I said that I am the strongest genin in the Leaf Village, but that was a lie. The strongest is my teammate Neji, and he is the one I aspire to beat."

_Neji... the Hyuuga guy from earlier?_ Isa sighed. _I knew he wasn't going to be easy. _

"So why did you want to fight me?" Sasuke asked, slipping his arm from Isa's grasp. He wasn't shaken any more, but now he just looked angry.

"You were just practice," Lee said. "So now you have been warned. Good luck in the Exams." He turned and vanished up the stairs.

Sasuke glared after him. "Let's go," He said, sullen.

They barely made it to the registration hall in time. Kakashi was waiting outside, reading. He looked up when they approached.

"Cutting it a bit close, aren't you? What happened to you?" He asked Sasuke, nodding at the bruises blooming across the boy's face.

Sasuke grunted and didn't reply.

"He fought Rock Lee," Isa explained.

"Rock Lee? Isn't he on Guy's team?" Kakashi asked, taken aback. "Why were you fighting him?"

"Because they're stupid," Naruto said, jeering at Sasuke, who glared at him. "I didn't fight because it wasn't a smart decision."

Kakashi looked from him to Isa, who grinned, shrugging. "Maybe you can get some of that common sense to rub off on Sasuke, too," He said. Sasuke huffed, arms crossed defensively. "Anyway, I'm glad you're all here. I didn't want to have to send two of you back if someone decided not to show up."

Naruto frowned. "What do you mean?"

Kakashi tucked his book into a pocket, giving them his full attention. "Well, everyone who enters the Chunin Exams does so in a group of three. If one of you had decided not to participate, the other two would have been unable to continue."

"You really thought one of us wouldn't show?" Isa asked, doubtful.

He smiled at her. "No, I had faith in all of you. The Chunin Exams are a big deal, though. I'm proud of you guys, you've come a long way."

"Yeah, well, we're not done yet!" Naruto said, lacing his hands behind his head and grinning.

Isa smiled, pushing him toward the door. "Come on, we're gonna be late. Don't worry, Kakashi-sensei, we won't let you down!" She tossed a parting wave over her shoulder, ushering her teammates into the registration hall. Kakashi watched them go, smiling fondly under his mask.

* * *

A/N: Alrighty we're almost to the First Exam! Also, a new cover image, which I drew, linearted, and colored myself(I'm bragging because I'm proud of it I'm sorry I'm done now). Umm let's see other than that, I don't think I have any announcements or anything to make. I'm moving the rating up to Teen now, even though there's nothing really Teen-rated happening yet, but whatever, it'll qualify as Teen later, so it's fine. The next chapter will be up next Wednesday, as usual. Chapter 10, finally on double digits, which is pretty exciting. So yeah, that's basically it, hope everyone enjoys! :)


	10. Chapter 10

___Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters. Isa Yamanaka and any other OC's are mine._

* * *

"Oh... wow." Isa breathed, eyes wide. The registration hall was packed, shinobi lounging on every available surface, feet propped up on tables, leaning against walls, staring each other down. There was an uncomfortable moment when everyone's eyes swiveled to them as the door shut and conversation died. Isa almost shrank away from the crowd, but Sasuke and Naruto were reassuring presences at her back.

"Man, there are a ton of people in here!" Naruto said, peering around with interest. He didn't appear at all intimidated by the mass of older, likely more experienced ninja who were watching them.

With a familiar laugh, Ino materialized from the crowd, flinging her arms around Isa. "What took you guys so long?"

Isa returned her sister's hug, the knot of anxiety in her chest loosening. Ino stepped back, smiling brightly, and immediately turned to hug Sasuke, too.

"Sasuke! I feel like I haven't seen you in forever!" She squealed, giggling girlishly. Sasuke grumbled loudly, but didn't bother pushing her away. _Probably a good thing,_ Isa thought, trying very hard not to smile when Sasuke met her eyes with a miserable expression on his face. _I think it'd take at least a few people to pry her off. _

Shikamaru and Choji joined them, following Ino, shouldering their way through the crowd. "Decided to show up at the last minute, huh?" Shikamaru drawled.

"Of course they did, Team Seven's always gotta show up everyone else, don't they?" A new voice chimed in. Kiba Inuzuka grinned at them, a small white puppy sitting on his head.

"Shut up, Kiba, you wish you were as cool as us!" Naruto said. The rest of Team Eight appeared, hovering by Kiba's shoulders.

Hinata Hyuuga, a tiny purple-haired girl, peeked out from behind Kiba's coat. "H-hi, Naruto," She said, so quietly that her voice was almost lost in the noisy room.

Naruto blinked at her. "Oh, hey, Hinata."

She blushed furiously and shuffled backwards until she bumped into the third member of Team Eight, Shino Aburame. He was a tall, quiet boy with sunglasses and a coat with a collar so tall it obscured most of his face. He was impossible to read, but he didn't react when Hinata ran into him, despite her squeak of surprise.

"Aw, look, all of us are together again!" Ino said. She let go of Sasuke, much to his relief, and stood beside her teammates.

"Yeah, the Rookie Nine is all here. Just like old times," Kiba said. "Right, Akamaru?" The puppy on his head barked, panting happily.

Shikamaru sighed. "These exams are too much trouble."

"You say that about everything," Isa said, laughing when he shot her a deadpan look.

"Careful, if you drop out, Ino might kill you," Kiba said. Ino nodded emphatically, glaring at Shikamaru in warning.

"He's right, you know. You're not allowed to be lazy!" She hit him in the arm, none-too-gently.

"Yeah, it'll be interesting to see who makes the cut, huh, Sasuke?" Kiba grinned, a playful sort of rivalry in his eyes.

Sasuke smirked. "Try not to get overconfident, will you, Kiba?"

"It's not overconfidence, trust me. I don't know about you guys, but we've been training like crazy. Nobody's gonna know what hit 'em," Kiba boasted.

Naruto scoffed. "Yeah? Well while you were training, we were off doing an A-rank mission."

"_And_ we've been training," Isa added, smirking playfully at Kiba and elbowing him in the side. "You sure you're ready for this?"

He laughed, throwing an arm around her shoulders. "I was born ready!" Akamaru barked in agreement, licking her face.

She giggled, pushing him away. "Akamaru, stop!"

Shino laid a hand on her shoulder, and she jumped in surprise. "Stop moving," He said. He spoke so rarely that it was always strange to hear him talk, and combined with the fact that his voice was already a good deal deeper than the other boy's, he never failed to make Isa a little nervous.

She froze, and followed his line of sight to her feet. A small beetle was crawling across the floor, inches away from her foot. She muffled a squeak of fear behind her hands.

She could practically feel Kiba rolling his eyes. "Dude, that's a tiny bug."

She would have smacked him if she hadn't been busy inching away from the beetle. "Shino, please get it!" She pleaded, whining plaintively when it crawled closer to her. Shino knelt, letting the beetle climb onto his hand. He stood and moved to the window, depositing the bug outside.

Kiba snorted. "You're such a girl."

Isa smoothed her shirt self-consciously, cheeks turning pink. She glared at him. "Yeah, well, I _am_ a girl, so that's not a very good insult."

Shino rejoined them, practically towering over her. "You've never liked bugs," He observed. Isa was fairly certain that he sounded a little disappointed, but she honestly couldn't tell. He said everything in a deep monotone, half the time she didn't even hear what he was saying.

She mustered an apologetic smile. "I like butterflies?" She offered sheepishly.

"Bugs are gross," Ino said. Shino's silence took on an irritated air.

Someone coughed nearby, politely getting their attention. "Hey, guys." They looked over to the silver-haired boy approaching them. He smiled, lifting a hand in greeting. "No offense, but you might want to keep it down a little."

"You know, when people say 'no offense', they usually follow it with something offensive," Shikamaru said dryly.

The boy laughed. "Well, you're the nine rookies, right? I don't think experienced shinobi are going to react well to a bunch of fresh Academy graduates invading their Exams."

"We're not invading anything," Naruto said, frowning at the stranger. "We got here fair and square, just like everyone else!"

"Who are you, anyway?" Ino asked, running a critical eye over the older boy.

"Ah, sorry! I'm Kabuto Yakushi. I really didn't mean to offend you, but you've kinda made an impression," He said.

_He's right,_ Isa thought. The majority of the room was staring at them, most gazes varying levels of unfriendly. _We might have just painted a huge target on our own backs._ One look at the other rookies told her they'd realized that, as well.

"See those guys over there?" Kabuto nodded to a group of ninja nearby, their forehead protectors marked with four parallel lines. "They're from the Village Hidden by Rain. Really touchy, those guys. I don't think they like you very much."

_Yeah, I don't think so, either._ They were glaring at the rookies, muttering darkly amongst themselves. _Well, we'll just have to avoid them. And everyone else in the room._

"I wouldn't worry about it too much, though," Kabuto said. "Nobody likes the rookies. You guys remind me of myself, in a way."

"This isn't the first time you've taken the Exams?" Isa asked. He shook his head.

"No it's... my seventh." He smiled, a bit embarrassed.

_Seventh?! Dad said most people don't bother going back after their fifth!_ Isa traded a shocked look with Shikamaru.

"Yeah, the exams are held twice a year, so this is my fourth year," Kabuto said, shrugging.

"So you probably know all the inside tips, huh?" Kiba asked hopefully.

Naruto looked excited. "Yeah, you're probably an expert! You can teach us all about the Exams!"

"Some expert," Shikamaru muttered scornfully. "How is it even possible for someone to fail six times?"

"Yeah, that's weird," Ino agreed, clearly unimpressed by the older boy.

Kabuto ran a hand through his hair, smiling cheerfully. "Well, you know what they say, seventh time's the charm!"

"D-does that mean that the Exams are going to be really hard?" Hinata piped up, still half-hidden behind Kiba.

Kabuto rummaged around in one of his pouches, producing a handful of orange cards. "I don't know what the Exams have in store, but I might be able to help you guys out with my Ninja Info Cards."

He knelt, setting the stack of cards on the ground, face-down. "These cards have been chakra-encoded with everything I've learned over the past four years."

"Like what?" Isa asked. Kabuto picked up a card, flipping it over. It was blank. He set it down, placing a single finger in the center of it. After a moment, a picture appeared on the card.

"Don't want just anybody to see what's on them," He said, smile taking on a distinctly sly edge. "This card shows the geographic distribution of the candidates. The most powerful village is usually the one who gets to host the Exams, and also provides most of the prospective ninja. This year, Konoha has about ninety participants."

"Do your cards have information on specific ninja?" Sasuke asked.

"Maybe. My information might not be complete, but I know something about almost everyone. Including you guys," He added, replacing his first card.

_How does he have information on us? I don't think we've even been listed on the genin roster yet,_ Isa thought, startled. She glanced at Ino, whose frown matched her own.

"Do you have anything on a guy named Gaara? He's from the Hidden Sand," Sasuke said.

Kabuto nodded, shuffling his cards. "Anyone else?"

"Rock Lee, from the Leaf Village." Sasuke shoved his hands in his pockets, waiting.

Kabuto held up two cards, placing them on the ground. _It's so detailed,_ Isa thought, staring at the faces of Rock Lee and Gaara, frowning up at them from the cards. _It's got their power distribution and everything!_

"Okay, Rock Lee. He's a year older than you guys, his sensei is Might Guy, and his taijutsu is off the charts. This is his first time participating in the Chunin Exams," Kabuto said, squinting at the cards through his glasses. "I don't have a lot on Gaara, but I do know that he's done a B-rank, and he's survived every mission without a single scratch on him."

"What?!" Naruto exclaimed, incredulous. "That's impossible!"

Kabuto shrugged, putting the cards back in the deck. "I don't know how he does it, but he's never gotten hurt on a mission."

"So he's the one to beat," Sasuke muttered. Isa shot him a warning look.

"He's the one to avoid," She said sharply.

"Yeah, I don't wanna tangle with him," Kiba agreed.

Kabuto produced another card, the map of the villages manifesting again. "He's from the Sand Village, over here." He pointed to a large section of the map. "The other candidates are from the Leaf, Grass, Waterfall, and Sound villages."

"The Sound Village?" Shikamaru repeated. "I've never heard of that."

"It cropped up recently," Kabuto explained. "No one really knows anything about it. Not even I have any information on the ninja from there."

_Sound, huh? It's weird for a new village to have ninja at all, let alone send them to exams in another country,_ Isa thought, chewing on her bottom lip.

Kabuto shrugged, putting the cards back in his pouch. "Well, the competition's gonna be tough this year, I can tell."

"R-really?" Hinata asked, crestfallen.

"I've been participating for four years, and I've never seen a group of candidates with as much potential as this year's," Kabuto said, standing up.

Naruto and Kiba grinned at each other, delighted. "So we gotta prove to everyone that the rookies shouldn't be underestimated?" Kiba asked, chuckling. "Should be fun."

Shikamaru sighed, miserable. "This is such a drag."

"I'm so ready for this!" Naruto crowed, eyes alight in excitement. "Everybody better watch out because Naruto Uzumaki is taking the Chunin Exams!" He pumped his fist in the air, drawing the attention of the few people in the room who hadn't already been watching them.

Ino glared at him. "Naruto, shut up! Everyone's staring at us!"

"Don't yell at me! It's not my fault everyone else is boring!" Naruto cried, affronted.

"They're not boring, you're just obnoxious!" Ino yelled, hitting him on the head. He pouted petulantly.

Isa balled her hand against her mouth to conceal a smile, and Shikamaru groaned. "They're so loud," He muttered. "Why are they so loud?"

"I think they're insane," Choji said conversationally, munching on his chips.

"Geez, either of you want to talk any louder? I don't think people on the other side of the village can hear you yet," Kiba quipped, ignoring the nasty look Ino gave him.

"Stop," Shino said suddenly, voice terse. Isa noticed it the same time he did, a flicker of movement in the crowd. Someone was coming toward them, much faster than they should have been. She tensed, reaching out for the chakra signatures. It was hard to differentiate specific people in a room full of so many shinobi, but she pinpointed them just as one leapt into the air, flinging a pair of kunai at Kabuto's feet.

"Three of them," She said. Shikamaru and Sasuke were moving with her before the ninja had even hit the floor. They were in front of the group in an instant, kunai glittering in their hands. The others still appeared to be blindsided by the unexpected attack.

But they weren't going for the rookies. Kabuto skipped back, avoiding the kunai. The second ninja showed up right in front of him, fist sailing for Kabuto's face. He dodged it cleanly, smirking. Then the lenses of his glasses shattered and he stumbled, falling to his knees and retching.

Ino recoiled in disgust. "Ew, what is happening?!"

"He didn't even hit him," Shikamaru muttered, eyes sharp.

"I saw the whole thing, he never touched him!" Sasuke said forcefully, staring, uncomprehending, at the ninja.

_Sound ninja,_ Isa thought. _But he didn't touch Kabuto, so what's wrong with him?_

"We need to stay away from these guys," She said quietly. Shikamaru nodded in agreement.

The Sound ninja regrouped, staring down at Kabuto smugly. "Put this on your little cards," One of them said, sneering. "The genin from the Sound Village will be chunin by the time these Exams are over!"

They backed up, disappearing into the crowd. Slowly, conversation resumed around them, attention finally turning away from the group of rookies. Naruto helped pick Kabuto up off the floor.

"Are you alright?" He asked the older boy.

Kabuto nodded. "I'm fine, don't worry about me. You guys should go, they're opening the exam hall."

"Man, you sure you're okay?" Kiba asked.

Kabuto summoned a half-hearted smile. "Yeah. But don't mess with the Sound ninja, I guess, huh?"

He waved, returning to his group, wherever they were, only slightly unsteady on his feet. The candidates began filtering into the exam hall, guided along by the exam proctors. They handed each person a number card, hustling them along to the corresponding seat. The hall was a large room full of long desks; along the sides were seated a selection of Leaf ninja, clipboards in hand.

Isa was seated near the middle of the room, nowhere near either of her teammates. Sasuke was in the third row, and Naruto was on the other side of the room entirely, sitting next to Hinata. Isa craned her neck, looking around for familiar faces. Ino was two rows back, and she waved brightly when she spotted Isa. Shikamaru was nearby, slumped in his chair, and Choji was in the aisle opposite him.

_They're separating the teams,_ she realized. As soon as everyone was seated, a tall, broad-shouldered man marched to the front of the room. He stood at ease, hands clasped behind his back, and when he faced them, Isa recognized him with a start.

_Dad works with him, I've seen them talking before! He's in the Konohagakure Intelligence Division. What's he doing proctoring the Chunin Exams?_

She cast another look around the room at the ninja with clipboards, their grey suits suddenly very familiar. _This is... weird. Why would they relegate an entire section of the Intelligence Division to proctor the Chunin Exams?_

"Alright, listen up, ingrates! I'm Ibiki Morino, your proctor." He didn't speak loudly, but his voice commanded their attention, and everyone immediately fell silent. "Before we begin, there are some rules you need to know. Pay attention, I won't be taking questions."

He turned to the chalkboard behind him, scribbling on it. "Rule number one, the written exam is conducted on a point-reduction system. Everyone starts the test with a perfect score of ten points, and a point is deducted for each question you get wrong. Rule number two, teams will pass or fail based on the total score of all three members."

Isa's stomach sunk. _Oh, no._ She glanced at Naruto, who was visibly distressed. _Naruto's the worst at written exams!_

"Rule number three," Ibiki continued. "The sentinels you see positioned around the room are there to watch you carefully for any signs of cheating. For every incident they spot, they will subtract two points from the culprit's score. If they catch you five times, you and your team will be dismissed."

_What?_ Isa blinked, nonplussed. _Why bother taking away points at all? Why wait until we're caught five times before kicking us out? That's totally counter-productive._

Ibiki was smirking. "Anyone stupid enough to get caught cheating doesn't deserve to be here. If you want to be considered shinobi, then show us what exceptional shinobi you can be. And rule number four, anyone who gets a zero on the exam automatically fails, and their team goes with them."

Naruto, if possible, looked even more upset.

"The final question won't be given out until fifteen minutes before the end of the testing period," Ibiki said, raising his voice over the muffled grumbles of worry throughout the room. You'll have one hour total."

The sentinels around the room stood up and began passing out the tests. Isa took hers, flipping through it quickly. The questions were long and complex, nothing they'd even begun to cover in the Academy. _Crap, Naruto can't do this! I don't think even I can do some of this!_

Once everyone had a test in front of them, Ibiki looked up at the clock. "Begin!"

The room was dead silent. Pencils hovered uncertainly over paper. There were a few people who immediately began writing, confident in their abilities. Isa read through the test carefully, lips pursed. There were a few questions she could answer, but the technical problems regarding mathematics and physics were lost on her.

Keeping her head down, she scanned the room through her eyelashes, picking out the few people who were already writing. After a while, more pencils began moving, and she deemed it safe to start her own test.

_Don't start it too early, or it'll make me a target for other people to copy off of,_ she thought. She filled in the few answers she had, and then glanced surreptitiously behind her. Ino had her head down on her desk, eyes closed. Isa waited until she opened her eyes again, scribbling furiously on her paper.

"Ninja Art: Mind Transfer Jutsu," She whispered, putting her own head down. She left her body and gently entered Ino's.

"_Hey, Ino," _She greeted her sister, prodding her thoughts cheerfully.

Ino's giggle echoed through her head. _"You're such a punk! Invading your sister's mind is rude, you know."_

Isa looked through Ino's eyes at the test. _"Hurry up and finish,"_ She whined, playfully pushing against Ino's mind.

If Ino could have mentally stuck her tongue out, Isa was sure she would have. _"Bossy much? You're gonna give these to Naruto, right? He looked kinda frozen over there."_

Isa snorted. _"Yeah. I don't really want to visit his brain, though."_

"_Ew, who would?"_ Ino agreed. She set down her pencil. _"Okay, done. You got 'em?"_

Isa memorized the answers as quickly as she could. _"Yep! Thanks, Ino, love you!"_

Ino rolled her eyes as Isa left, returning to her body. She picked up her head and copied down the answers from memory, looking up at Naruto. His hands were buried in his hair, staring helplessly at the test in front of him.

With a sigh, Isa put her head back down. "Ninja Art: Mind Transfer Jutsu."

When she entered Naruto's mind, he balked away from her. Quickly, she seized control of his body before he could start flailing in shock.

"_Naruto, calm down!"_ She said, trying to project soothing emotions onto the confused, panicked boy. _"It's just me, I've got the answers. You can talk to me, just think it, and I'll know."_

"_What the hell?! Isa's in my mind. Like, inside it. What do I do? Do I sit here? I can't move, so I guess I'll sit here. Can she see everything in my brain? Oh, that's not good. It's probably really cluttered. And messy. I was just thinking about my frog slippers, I hope she can't see that. That'd be kinda embarrassing."_

Isa winced at the mental barrage. _"Naruto, one thought at a time!"_

He quieted, and then seemed to realize that he could speak directly to her. _"Isa, please don't go through my head!"_

She picked up his pencil and started writing. _"I won't, I'm just here to give you the answers."_

"_Do you really know all of this?"_ He asked, astounded, watching her write down the answers.

Her mental laughter echoed through their connection. _"No, I got them from Ino."_

"_Did you do this... mind thing with her, too?"_

She hummed in affirmation. _"Yeah, and she got the answers from some other guy. I think there are chunins planted around the room with the answers so that we can cheat off of them."_

Naruto radiated confusion. _"What do you mean? You think they wanted us to cheat?"_

"_Well, yeah. None of the rules specifically said not to cheat, just not to get caught doing it."_ She finished writing, setting down his pencil._ "Okay, I'm leaving now, so just act normal once you can move again, alright?"_

She drifted back to her own body, looking up a moment later to see Naruto staring at his hands, a slightly disturbed expression on his face. She could see Sasuke writing, and any worry she'd had dissipated.

_We've got this,_ she thought proudly. It didn't take long before the sentinels were calling out numbers, the failed candidates leaving the room with their teams. A lot of people got caught, and a lot of people were disqualified. It would have made Isa sad, but she knew that each person who failed brought her one step closer to becoming a chunin.

When forty-five minutes had passed, Ibiki cleared his throat. "Time for the tenth question," He said. "Before I give you the question, there are some more rules that you need to be aware of."

_More rules? Geez, they really take this thing seriously._ She sighed, flicking her bangs out of her eyes.

"Rule number one, each of you is free to choose not to be given the final question. If you choose not to take the question, regardless of your answers to the other nine, you'll get a zero." Shocked murmurs ran through the room.

"Well, then, why would we do that?" Kiba asked from his seat near the back of the room.

Ibiki smirked. "You didn't let me finish. If you do accept the question, but answer it incorrectly, you will not only fail, you will be barred from taking the Chunin Exams ever again."

Isa's mouth dropped open. _Is he even allowed to do that? Can people really be banned from taking the Exams forever?_

"Are you kidding me?! That's bull, there's tons of people here who've taken the test before!" Kiba exclaimed. Akamaru barked in agreement.

Ibiki laughed, a low, sinister sound. It sent chills down Isa's back. "I guess you're just unlucky," He said, grinning at Kiba, who blanched. "I wasn't making the rules before, but I am now. Of course, if you don't want to take it, you don't have to. You can always come back and try again next year."

_No way, I'm not waiting another six months. But if we fail, we'll never be able to try again._ Isa sighed, rubbing her forehead. _What a screwed up test. Shikamaru was right, this is a drag._

"So, the final question." Ibiki leveled his gaze at the room, intimidation dripping from every word. "Anybody who doesn't want to take it, raise your hand."

There was a long, tense moment where no one moved. Then, haltingly, someone raised their hand.

"I can't do it, I'm sorry." The genin and his team shuffled out of the room. After that, it was practically a race to get out the door. Teams began folding left and right, and the room emptied significantly.

Isa looked around. There were still a lot of people left, despite the line of people flowing out of the room. Sasuke seemed confident, at least as far as she could tell, and when she caught Naruto's eye, he flashed her a grateful smile.

Ibiki waited until no more hands were raised. "Well, then, for those of you remaining, there's only one thing left to do." He paused dramatically, and Isa felt her stomach clench in anticipation. "And that's for me to tell you that you've all passed the first exam."

Nobody moved.

"What?" Isa asked, gaping at him. She felt like someone had just dumped a bucket of ice water on her head.

Naruto was scratching his head, puzzled. "But what about the tenth question?"

Ibiki's glower broke, and he grinned merrily. Suddenly, he seemed less like an impenetrable wall of steel and more like an oversized teddy bear. "There never was one! Not a written one, anyway. Your decision to stay was the answer to the tenth question."

"So all the other questions were just a waste of time?" Shikamaru asked. He sighed. "Figures."

"Oh, no, they weren't a waste at all," Ibiki assured him. "The first set of questions tested your ability to gather information under adverse circumstances. Those who were unable to perform accordingly were dismissed. You see, my intention was not only to test you as individuals, but as members of a team. That's why the tests were scored on a team basis, so that you were aware of how your actions would affect the fate of your teammates."

"So you designed a test that was way out of our league, and then waited for us to come up with a way to gather the information we needed to complete it." Isa said, smiling as the pieces fell into place. "We had to go into it knowing that if we got caught cheating, our whole team would fail, and if we couldn't answer the questions, our team would fail anyway."

Ibiki met her eyes, smirking in recognition. "Apple doesn't fall far from the tree, does it? You're right, the written test was designed to encourage cheating. The real test laid in your ability to devise a way to subtly gather information without getting caught by the sentinels. Of course, I had to plant two chunin in the room who already knew the answers, so that you actually had a chance of getting some of the questions right."

Isa crossed her arms over her chest smugly. _I knew it!_

"Information," Ibiki said, reaching up and undoing the bandanna around his head. "It can be the most powerful weapon on the battlefield. How well you gather intelligence can determine whether the mission is a failure or a success." He pulled the bandanna away, revealing a scalp marred by vicious scars.

Isa's pride fell away and she gasped, staring in horror. Ibiki's whole head was covered in thick, ropy scars, remnants of burn marks and puncture wounds littered alongside the slash marks. He waited until the horrified gasps calmed down before replacing the bandanna.

"Sometimes you'll have to risk your life to the get the information you need," He said solemnly. "And you must always consider the source of your information. Intelligence gathered from an enemy isn't necessarily accurate. Always remember this, disinformation is more dangerous than no information at all. It can lead to the death of comrades or the loss of a village. That's why I put you in a position where you had to gather accurate intelligence."

"Okay, but what was the tenth question all about?" Temari, the girl from the Sand Village, asked.

"The tenth question was the whole point of the test. It put you, and by association, your team, in a no-win scenario. You could drop out, forcing your team to quit with you, or you could risk it, and potentially ruin your team's chance of ever becoming a chunin. It is exactly the kind of situation a chunin is faced with almost every day." Ibiki looked them over, eyebrows drawn together.

"There will be many mission that will seem almost suicidal if you think about it," He said. "But you do not think about it. You think only of the goal, and of achieving it through courage and discipline. These are the qualities required of a chunin squad leader. Those who would choose the safe path, those whose determination falters in the face of adversity, those who would put their comrades lives in jeopardy by worrying about their own, those who would save their own lives at the price of sacred honor, will never be able to call themselves chunin. At least not as long as I'm here."

His speech left the atmosphere in the room noticeably more somber than it had been previously. "As for the rest of you, you have passed. I hereby declare this section of the Chunin Exams completed, you may continue on to the next step." He smiled warmly at them. "Good luck."

Naruto and Kiba both whooped in excitement. Isa slumped back in her seat, feeling the stress draining from her body. Sasuke turned around, smirking at her, and she flashed him a thumbs up. Then, a rock crashed through one of the windows and something came barreling inside.

They stared in shock as someone hurled a pair of kunai into the ceiling, unfurling a huge banner. The woman who stood in front of it grinned at them, hands on her hips.

"Head's up, boys and girls, this is no time to be celebrating!" She announced exuberantly. "I'll be your next proctor, Anko Mitarashi! Everybody ready for the next test? Yeah? Good!" Anko thrust her fist in the air for emphasis.

_It's like... a female Naruto,_ Isa thought, torn between horror and amusement.

Somebody in the back of the room coughed awkwardly. Nobody moved. Ibiki leaned around the banner with a deadpan expression.

"You're early," He said. "Again."

Anko laughed, turning pink, then surveyed the room. "There's a lot of people in here. What, did you decide to go easy on 'em?"

"Maybe there's just a stronger crop of candidates this year," He said.

Anko snorted. "Doesn't matter, by the time I'm done with them, half of them are gonna be gone. Alright, you maggots have had it easy, but this next test is gonna push you to the breaking point," She said, raising her voice to address the whole room. "I'll see you first thing in the morning, I'll let your squad leaders know where to meet me. Dismissed."

They left in a hurry, regrouping outside the Academy. The sun was setting, a golden haze settling over the village. Isa threw her arms in the air as soon as she was outside, laughing joyfully.

"We did it!" She crowed, looking around at her friends with bright eyes. "We all made it!"

Kiba scoffed, pulling on her ponytail teasingly. "Of course we did, we're awesome."

"Yeah, come on," Ino agreed, affecting a lofty tone. "Nobody is better than Rookie Nine."

Isa grinned, lacing her hand with Ino's, swinging their arms back and forth. "We gotta look out for each other."

"That's what friends are for," Choji said matter-of-factly. He looked up at the sky. "Man, it's almost dinner time. I'm starving!"

"We should have a celebration dinner once this is all over," Isa said.

"That would be fun," Hinata said, smiling timidly.

Isa grinned at her. "It's a date, then! Everyone has to come. Even you, Sasuke." She said, poking him in the ribs.

He grunted, but the corner of his mouth was turned up in a smirk. "Sounds lame," He said.

Isa and Ino traded an exasperated look. Shikamaru chuckled, shaking his head.

"Trust me, man, don't fight them on this," He said. "It's impossible to stop them from getting what they want."

Sasuke looked doubtful, but Choji nodded sagely. "They're insane," He agreed.

Ino huffed, tossing her hair. "We're not insane, you jerks." She looked up, waving at their father, who was walking toward them with a smile. "Time to go!"

"See you guys tomorrow!" Isa said, waving over her shoulder, letting Ino drag her away. Inoichi waited for them with open arms, laughing when they launched themselves at him.

"Looks like my girls made it. I knew you would," He said, slinging an arm around each of their shoulders. "Come on, your mom's got dinner cooking." They leaned against him as they walked, chatting mindlessly, the sun casting long shadows across the ground.

* * *

A/N: Thanks to everybody for all the support, the reviews and favorites and follows really make my day! I realize that I basically sped through the First Exam in half a chapter, but don't worry, we'll be spending a lot of time on the rest of the Chunin Exams. You'll probably be wishing I moved the plot along faster, but hey we'll get there eventually. As usual, the next chapter will be out next Wednesday, so hopefully you all stick around for that because there's just one more chapter until it starts to get fun. And by fun I mean traumatizing. Enjoy! :)


	11. Chapter 11

___Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters. Isa Yamanaka and any other OC's are mine._

* * *

Sunrise was accompanied by a knock at the front door. Inoichi was already awake, meditating on the backyard deck. He opened the door to find a sleepy-looking Asuma and Kakashi waiting for him.

"I don't think the girls are up yet," He said, inviting them inside. He leaned into the stairwell, hollering, "Girls!" There was a muffled thump from upstairs and Isa appeared in her doorway wearing a gigantic pink shirt, her waist-length hair tangled from sleep.

"I was having a good dream," She mumbled, rubbing her eyes. She peered down the stairs, blinking blearily, uncomprehending. There was a long moment before she realized that her teacher was standing in her living room. Panic suddenly dawned on her face, and she gasped. "Oh, no! Did we sleep in?! Oh, we're gonna be late, aren't we?" She banged on Ino's door and then dashed into the bathroom, going through her morning routine in a blur.

The three men sat in the living room to wait, and Isa appeared downstairs half an hour later, hair still dripping wet from the shower. She flew through the kitchen, inhaling a glass of orange juice and shoving a piece of toast in her mouth.

"Okay, I'm ready!" She announced, skidding to a stop in front of them. Asuma grinned.

"How come I didn't get the early bird?" He groused. A cigarette dangled from his lips, but it was unlit.

Kakashi chuckled. "Guess I'm just lucky."

Ino stumbled down the stairs, still half-asleep. "I hate everything," She said, taking the toast that Isa offered her. "Why do mornings exist?"

"You should have gone to sleep earlier," Isa said reasonably, bouncing on the balls of her feet in excitement.

Ino appeared positively disgusted by her twin's energy. "I couldn't, I had to decide what to bring for this stupid thing. You'd think they'd actually tell us something instead of letting us freak out about it all night."

"I think we can help with that," Asuma said. "You're going to the Forest of Death."

"The Forest of... Death?" Isa echoed, visions of horrifying monsters and possessed trees springing to mind.

Kakashi nodded. "It's outside of the village, you'll know it when you see it."

"Yeah, huge fence, bigass trees, can't miss it." Asuma added. Inoichi shot him a reprimanding look, and Asuma grinned sheepishly. "Sorry. Really big trees."

"How dangerous is it?" Isa asked.

Ino snorted. "It's called the Forest of _Death_, how dangerous do you think it is?"

"Shut up, eat your toast," Isa said, wrinkling her nose at her cranky sister.

Ino stuck her tongue out, but fell silent, munching on her toast and resting her head on Isa's shoulder.

"It's used specifically as a training ground, they're not going to throw anything at you that you really can't handle," Inoichi said, smiling at them reassuringly. He glanced at the clock. "You should probably get going. You'll be gone for a few days, at least, so be good, okay? Look out for each other." He stood up, kissing them each on the forehead.

"We will." Isa smiled brightly. She was full of nervous energy, despite the fact that she'd hardly slept the night before. She'd laid awake for hours thinking about the second stage of the Exams, imagining what they would have to do, who they might fight.

They left, waving goodbye to their father. Kakashi and Asuma walked with them to the edge of the village. When they were at the gates, Kakashi ruffled Isa's hair affectionately.

"Hey, be careful, alright?" He said, smiling at her.

She giggled and threw her arms around his waist, squeezing tightly. "Don't worry, Kakashi-sensei, we'll be fine. We'll be back before you know it, you won't even have time to miss us!" She let go of him and joined her sister. Their teacher's watched them go, waving until both girls vanished around the curve of the road.

They followed the path and, after a short walk, found the Forest of Death. Asuma had been right, there was no way to miss it. The trees were huge, enclosed by a tall wire fence. Isa couldn't see more than ten feet into the dense vegetation on the other side.

Naruto and Sasuke were already there. Naruto was staring at the forest with a worried look on his face.

"This isn't gonna be easy, is it?" He asked, pouting.

Isa bumped her shoulder against his, smiling bracingly. "Hey, you're the best ninja in Konoha, remember? We got this."

He laughed, running a hand through his hair. "Yeah, you're right. The other teams better watch out, though."

"Tough guy, huh?" Anko was standing in front of them, smirking. She was playing with a kunai, twirling it between her fingers. She flicked it expertly, and it sailed past Naruto's face. A thin red line appeared in its wake, blood welling up from the cut.

Naruto froze, eyes wide. Isa's chakra was gathering instantly, percolating in her fingertips.

"You scared, kid?" Anko taunted, flickering and appearing behind Naruto. He wasn't breathing at all, hands shaking almost imperceptibly. She leaned in, running a finger along the cut. It came away bloody. "This blood's gonna be decorating the forest floor before too long."

Isa didn't even notice the tall, pale man behind Anko until he hovered directly over the proctor, unfurling a long, forked tongue. It held Anko's kunai, blood dripping from one edge.

"I was just returning your knife," The man said, voice sending chills down Isa's spine. Isa narrowed her eyes. _That guy... he feels all wrong. His chakra is... muddled._ His forehead protector marked him as a ninja of the Hidden Grass.

Anko was smiling, but there was a dangerous edge to her expression, and she held a kunai toward the Grass ninja. "Why, thank you. But, you know, people who stand this close to me usually don't survive to do it again." Her voice had lost all teasing, as wicked as it had been, but she took the kunai from the Grass ninja's tongue.

"My apologies," The man said. "I'm afraid I just got a little too excited at the sight of blood. I meant you no harm." His voice was silky smooth, and he smiled as he turned away, rejoining his group.

_Geez, everyone here is crazy,_ Isa thought. She let go of her chakra, the tingling in her fingers fading. She pulled Naruto away from Anko; the proctor looked at her, and Isa met her gaze squarely, eyes sharp and cold.

Anko chuckled. "Looks like everyone's got a temper today. Should be fun." She walked over to the fence, then faced the assembled candidates. "Now, before we start the second exam, I have something to give you all. These are standard consent forms," She said, producing a stack of papers from her coat. "Everyone needs to read over this, and then sign it."

"What's it for?" Kiba asked. He was standing nearby with his team, arms crossed over his chest. Akamaru peeked out from inside his jacket.

"Some of you might not make it back from his test," Anko said, surveying the candidates with an impish grin, as if the thought positively delighted her. "And I've gotta get your consent for that, otherwise it would be my responsibility. And I really hate paperwork, so."

She thrust the papers into the hands of an unfamiliar candidate. He took them hesitantly and started passing them out.

"The first thing you need to know about this test is that you're going to need to use all of your survival skills," Anko continued. "The Forty-Forth Battle Training Zone has forty-four locked entrance gates situated around the perimeter. Each team will be assigned a gate, and enter the Training Zone from there."

She held up a map of the forest, pointing out the gates positioned in regular intervals around the circumference of the area. "In the center is a tower, and that tower is your final destination. You'll have five days to complete the survival test, which consists of an all-out battle to get these scrolls." She brandished two small scrolls. On them were the symbols for 'heaven' and 'earth'. "Each team will be given one of these scrolls when they turn in their consent forms, and it's your job to find a team with the other scroll, and take it from them."

Isa took the consent form that was handed to her, reading it over quickly. "So only half of the teams will be able to pass?" She asked. Anko glanced at her, evaluating the blonde girl, then nodded.

"That's right. There are twenty-six teams going into the survival test, but a maximum of half of those teams will make it through," She said. "Plus, the forest is full of man-eating animals and poisonous plants. So I'm betting that less than half of the teams will make it."

"So we'll be surrounded by enemy ninja _and_ hostile animals?" Sasuke asked. "There won't be any time to rest, we'll have to keep a constant watch."

"Exactly. This test also measures endurance behind enemy lines," Anko said. "It's designed to be difficult."

Shikamaru raised his hand. "Can we quit mid-exam?"

Ino elbowed him in the stomach, hard. "No way, you're not quitting on me now! I'll tell your mom you wimped out and she'll never let it go. I swear I will!"

Anko frowned at him, dumbfounded. "No, you can't quit in the middle of the exam. I mean, I guess you could just give up, but you'll probably end up dead." She laughed at the thought.

_Yeah, definitely insane,_ Isa decided, shaking her head.

Shikamaru sighed, rubbing his stomach where Ino had hit him. "I knew this was gonna be a drag."

"That reminds me, though, there are also ways you can get disqualified. The first is simple," Anko said, holding up a finger. "If all three members of your team can't make it to the tower with both scrolls after five days, you're disqualified. Two," She held up a second finger. "If a team loses a member or a member becomes incapacitated and can't continue. And third," She held up a third finger. "And this one is the most important, none of you, under any circumstances, may open the scrolls before you reach the tower!"

She gave them all a serious look, and then, abruptly, grinned. "Okay, that's it. Sign your consent forms and turn them in over there for your scrolls." She pointed at a desk, where two other proctors sat.

The crowd dispersed across the clearing, huddled into groups. Isa sat down against a tree, frowning thoughtfully. The ninja at the desk pulled shut a set of curtains around their tables, effectively hiding them from view.

"We won't know what team has which scroll," She muttered.

Sasuke sat down next to her. "Unless we have a way of finding out," He said.

"Right, but how?" Naruto asked, sitting down and enclosing them in a circle. "We can try knocking out one of the other candidates and using a transformation jutsu to sneak onto their team."

Isa shook her head. "There's not enough time to draw anyone away." She bit her lip, thinking quickly. "I can use my Mind Transfer Jutsu."

"How many times can you use it?" Sasuke asked.

She pursed her lips, watching the first team approach the desk and disappear behind the curtains. "Not a ton of times. Maybe three, maximum?"

Naruto frowned. "Let's do that, then. Try it on those guys," He said, nodding at the Sound team, who were getting up.

She focused quickly and, before the female ninja could escape her line of sight, formed the hand sign. "Ninja Art: Mind Transfer Jutsu!"

Her eyes rolled back in her head and she slumped against Sasuke listlessly. They waited, watching the Sound ninja step past the curtains. A minute later they emerged, and Isa's eyes fluttered open.

She rubbed her forehead, wincing. "That was weird."

"Why? What's wrong?" Naruto asked, concerned.

She frowned at the Sound ninja across the clearing. The female ninja looked a little confused, but shook it off, following her team to their gate.

"I did some digging around in her head to try and figure out her skills, but I found..." She hesitated, uncertain. "Instructions, I think."

"Instructions for what?" Sasuke asked, frowning. She was still leaning against him, and she sat up, drawing her knees up to her chest.

"It wasn't a complete set," She said. "It's like someone only told her part of it. It just kept popping up, though. 'Find the kid and kill him.'"

"'Find the kid'? What kid?" Naruto exclaimed, keeping his voice at a hushed whisper.

"I don't know," Isa admitted. "She didn't know that part, she just knew they had to find someone and kill him."

"So the Sound team is here on an assassination mission, not for the Exams," Sasuke said, brows knit.

"Should we tell someone?" Naruto asked. "I mean, we saw those guys in the registration hall with Kabuto. They're intense."

Sasuke shot him a derisive look. "We don't know who they're after. What are we gonna say? We think the Sound team is here to murder someone? There's gonna be a lot of people dying in the forest, we might not ever find out who their target is."

"We can follow them once we're in there," Isa suggested. "But do we even want to get involved? We're already gonna have a target on our backs since we're rookies, plus we have to find another team and get an opposite scroll."

"So we just ignore it?" Sasuke didn't look particularly happy with the idea.

Isa shrugged helplessly. "I don't know what else to do. Even if we tell the proctors, they might not be able to do anything about it. They might not even believe us."

Sasuke stood up, sighing. "It doesn't matter. Did you see what scroll they got?"

"Yeah, they got a heaven scroll," Isa said, standing up as well. Naruto joined them and they made their way over to the table.

"Let's hope we get one, too, then we won't have any reason to run into them," Naruto said. They ducked behind the curtain, scribbling their names on the consent forms and handing them to the proctors.

"Good luck," One of them said, handing Naruto a heaven scroll. Isa sighed in relief, and Naruto took it, tucking it into an inside pocket of his jacket.

"You're at Gate Twelve," The other proctor said, pointing it out on the map. They left and made their way to the gate. There was a proctor waiting for them, holding the key to the lock that kept the gate chained shut.

"So we don't go after the Sound team, then?" Isa asked quietly, worry creasing her forehead.

"It's up to you," Sasuke said, watching her with unfathomable eyes.

She bit her lip, staring into the depths of the forest. "Let's just focus on getting away from the gates first. And no matter what, we don't split up."

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, we gotta stick together."

With that, the gates were opened. Isa shoved away the gnawing pit of worry in her stomach, rushing through the gate. They were swallowed by trees instantly, leaping along the branches easily. She broadened her senses as much as she could, and they hadn't been moving for more than five minutes before she found something.

"Chakra signatures ahead of us," She said. Sasuke and Naruto followed her, slipping into the underbrush at the edge of a small clearing.

"What are those?!" Naruto gasped, staring wide-eyed at the overgrown ants that had cornered one of the teams.

"Looks like fire ants," Sasuke said. "Are they alive?" He nodded to the two prone bodies in the clearing. The remaining member of the team was backed against a boulder, kunai shaking in her hand.

Isa focused, then shook her head. "No, their chakra is going cold, fast. Do we help her?"

Sasuke thought for a split second, then nodded. They burst from the shrubbery, each singling out one of the huge ants.

Isa landed on top of hers, jamming a kunai deep into the juncture where its head met its body. It spasmed wildly, and almost managed to toss her across the clearing. She yanked her kunai out of its body, grimacing at the gush of greenish liquid that followed, and turned to the girl.

She was cowered against a rock, her bright red hair a stark contrast to her white, terrified face.

"Are you okay?" Isa asked her, peering at her forehead protector. _Zigzag line. That's the Hidden Grass, isn't it?_

The girl nodded slowly. Sasuke and Naruto finished off the last of the giant ants, standing beside Isa when they were done.

"What's your name?" Naruto asked kindly.

The girl swallowed hard, trembling. "Karin."

"You can't complete the exam," Sasuke said. Karin glanced at her fallen teammates, chin wobbling. "What scroll did you have?"

"Heaven," She replied. She stared at them uncertainly. "Are you going to kill me?"

"No," Isa said. "Try to find somewhere safe and wait out the exams. If you manage to get to the tower by the fifth day, you'll probably be safe there, even though you're disqualified."

Karin sucked in a shaky breath and nodded. "Okay. Thank you."

Isa offered her a smile, turning to leave. "You're welcome." She jerked her head, and her teammates followed her out of the clearing, scaling the side of a tree and vanishing.

"Man, that sucks," Naruto said, jumping effortlessly through the air. Isa and Sasuke kept pace with him, though Isa's mind was elsewhere, busy scanning their surroundings for chakra.

"They told us people would die," Sasuke said.

Naruto landed lightly on a branch, then pushed off without missing a beat. "Yeah, but that's tough. I can't imagine how crappy she probably feels right now."

Sasuke grunted in agreement. "You sensing anything?" He asked Isa.

"There's a team ahead of us, to the right. They're stationary right now," She replied.

"Do we wanna get them?" Naruto asked.

She frowned in concentration. "I think they're splitting up."

"Probably heading out to search for scrolls," Sasuke said. "Should we set a trap?"

"Yeah. One of them is heading our way," She said.

They left the trees, alighting on the ground. They went to work rigging up traps, stringing ninja wire along the ground and through the air.

Isa focused on the chakra signature as it drew closer. "Guys," She said. The chakra had stilled, and was hovering nearby, concealed behind the foliage. She shot a warning look at her teammates, then affected a casual expression. "Naruto, can you stay here and keep watch for a minute? Sasuke and I should probably try to find some food for later."

Naruto's eyes narrowed for only a second, then he nodded, playing along effortlessly. He leaned against a tree while Sasuke and Isa ducked into the forest.

As soon as they were out of eyeshot, they turned back, circling around and hiding behind a tree.

"He got Naruto," Isa reported. "He's using a transformation jutsu and waiting for us. Naruto is tied up behind a tree a little way's away."

"Should we get him?" Sasuke asked.

She uncapped the canteen she had strapped to her belt. Forming a hand sign, she focused her chakra. "Water Clone Jutsu!"

The water poured out of her canteen of its own accord, coalescing into a solid clone of herself.

"Untie Naruto and bring him back to the clearing," She told it. "Tell him to make a bunch of clones and position them around the area, then attack all at once." The clone nodded and took off.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at her. "Water clones?"

She shrugged, grinning. "I might have been practicing new jutsus in my free time. Can't blame me for trying to keep up with you two lunatics."

He snorted. "Showoff. Think you can get this guy with a genjutsu?"

She nodded. They crept around the tree and Sasuke entered the clearing. 'Naruto' perked up, waving cheerfully.

"Hey, that was quick. You find anything?" He asked.

_Not a bad impersonation, but not good enough,_ Isa thought. She formed a hand sign, reaching out with her chakra. It was easy to make a genjutsu subtle enough to go unnoticed, but strong enough to affect him. She layered it on, twisting his sense of sight until the world was spinning just the tiniest bit.

He frowned and put a hand to his head. "What the hell?"

Sasuke smirked and burst into action, springing backward and hurling a handful of shuriken at 'Naruto'. He dodged, stumbling away. Isa smirked.

_Off balance? __**So**__ sorry about that._

Sasuke pressed the attack, forcing the ninja back. When a kunai caught him, slicing into his arm, he grunted in pain, and the transformation jutsu dissipated.

"Guess you're smart than you look," He spat. His voice was distorted by the rebreather over his mouth, and his forehead protector was marked with four parallel lines. _Rain Village,_ Isa thought. He chuckled, hands forming signs, and four more images of him shimmered into existence.

Isa waited until Sasuke was swooping in for another attack before she launched her own. Sasuke was throwing shuriken left and right, and the clones were disappearing faster than the ninja could produce them.

She came in low, striking out with her foot. She knocked his legs out from under him, then spun, landing solidly on top of his chest. The air rushed out of his lungs and he scrambled to push her away, but her fingers were already forming an 'O'.

"Ninja Art: Mind Transfer Jutsu!"

She shoved down his consciousness, paralyzing his body, and rifled through his thoughts. A person's brain was a convoluted place, a maze that was laid out in a way that only made sense to the owner. A talented Yamanaka could navigate the maze in seconds, but an impatient one could simply blow it away.

She didn't bother being gentle as she searched through his head. _Scroll, scroll, scroll, where is it? Aha! Earth scroll, huh? And look at that, you have it. I'll just be taking that now._

With a sense of accomplishment, she returned to her body. Sasuke had caught her as she lost consciousness, placing her carefully on the ground before proceeding to bind up the ninja.

She opened her eyes. "Earth scroll, jumpsuit, inside pocket," She said. Sasuke yanked open the jumpsuit and fished out the scroll.

"That was easy," He said, almost disappointed. She sat up slowly, grinning.

Naruto ran out of the forest, looking around wildly. "Are you guys okay?"

They nodded. "What took you so long?" Sasuke asked.

"Sorry, that guy tied me up really good and it took forever for your clone to cut through the rope," Naruto said, grinning ruefully. "And then I had to find my way back and I think I went the wrong way at first."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, huffing a quiet laugh. "We got an earth scroll." He held up the scroll, tossing it to Isa. She caught it and tucked it away inside her jacket.

"Man, this survival test is a piece of cake!" Naruto exclaimed, elated.

Isa stood up, surveying the tied-up ninja at their feet. He was glaring at them vehemently. "What do we do with him?"

Sasuke shrugged. "Knock him out and leave him?"

"He knows we have both scrolls now, he and his team might come after us," Isa pointed out.

Naruto laced his hands behind his head carelessly. "We can take 'em."

Sasuke crouched in front of the ninja. "If you attack us, we'll kill you and your team," He said, voice low and dangerous. He struck the boy in the temple and his eyes rolled back, unconscious.

"Should we take down our traps before we go?" Naruto wondered. Isa scanned their surroundings.

"I don't sense anyone nearby," She said, shrugging. They hurriedly disassembled the traps they'd set up, rolling up the ninja wire and retrieving the spring-loaded kunai hidden in the trees.

"Big help these were," Naruto muttered, tucking the ninja wire into his pouch.

"Better safe than sorry," Isa retorted, running up the side of a tree, stepping smoothly onto a high branch. Sasuke was already a branch ahead, waiting for them impatiently. Naruto joined her, and they caught up with their teammate, making their way deeper into the forest.

The lighting underneath the trees was dim, the canopy overhead blocking out the sky entirely, but Isa knew it had to be nearing midday. Hunger was beginning to make her stomach rumble; the toast and orange juice from that morning seemed like days ago.

They rocketed through the trees, swift and silent. Isa was confident, their encounters with Karin and the Hidden Rain ninja had gone so smoothly that she was beginning to wonder if the test really would be that easy.

_We're actually working well together, too,_ she realized. She ran across the trunk of a tree, pushing off, gliding through the air in a blur of blonde hair. _It's a miracle Naruto and Sasuke haven't started fighting yet. They haven't even sniped at each other all morning. Let's hope it stays that way. I don't want to spend five days with them if they're arguing the whole time._ She smiled inwardly and focused on keeping up with them, staying alert for any incoming threats. They moved quickly, and for a while they just kept going, encountering no one.

Eventually, Sasuke stopped. "We should find somewhere to set up for the night," He said.

Isa nodded in agreement. "Good idea. I think I saw a river to our left a while ago, but we should stay away from that, right?"

"Yeah, everyone's gonna go there, I bet," Naruto said.

Isa frowned suddenly, looking around as if searching for something.

"What is it?" Sasuke asked, eyes sharp.

She shook her head. "I thought I felt something. It must have been n-"

The gust of wind hit them with enough force to send all three tumbling off of the branch they were standing on. Isa was slammed into a tree, vision going black for a long second. And then she was falling, plummeting toward the ground.

There was a scream caught in her throat. All she could see was earth rushing toward her. Her mind told her to move, to reach out for something, to anchor herself to something. But she couldn't move, body shocked into immobility.

The ground was so close that she could nearly count the leaves of the bushes beneath her. She only closed her eyes when a force hit her from the side, breaking her fall. They fell in a tangle of limbs, rolling across the ground.

Sasuke groaned, arms wrapped securely around Isa. "Are you okay?" He asked.

She was breathing in harsh, short gasps, eyes screwed shut. "Sasuke, what's happening?" She whispered, clinging to his shirt.

"I don't know." He pulled himself free of her, untangling their legs and standing. She clambered to her feet, desperately searching for Naruto.

"I can't feel Naruto," She said, voice shot through with panic. "I don't know where he is!"

"Calm down, it's fine," He said, fingers sliding around her wrist. The contact grounded her, and she centered herself, wrestling her breathing under control. "What was that thing?" He asked, Sharingan activated, peering into the forest.

There was something out there, she could feel it. It was dark, creeping, almost fuzzy, as if it was still trying to hide from her. "Sasuke," She said, voice trembling. "Someone's coming."

* * *

A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who reviews, favorites, and follows, it really means so much to me! I don't really have a lot to say here, but Chapter 12 is coming next Wednesday, as usual, so hopefully everyone sticks around for that, because it's going to get pretty intense. Hope you enjoy! :)


	12. Chapter 12

___Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters. Isa Yamanaka and any other OC's are mine._

* * *

Sunlight filtered softly through the canopy of trees, dust motes floating lazily through the air. A stray leaf drifted to the ground, the only movement in the still forest. It smelled like dead leaves and dirt in an almost comforting way, the scent rich and warm and familiar.

Sasuke's fingers were curled around her wrist, and if she closed her eyes and ignored her pounding heart, Isa could almost pretend that she was somewhere else. But she couldn't stop the gnawing, aching fear in the pit of her gut. She couldn't close her eyes because whatever was coming toward them was terrifyingly powerful, and if it was coming to kill them, she was at least going to die with her eyes open.

Darkness was all around them, curling around their feet as if it had a mind of its own. Isa could feel each beat of her heart, could feel the blood thrumming through her body, could see the second the shadows parted and the lone figure stepped into the light.

_Orange outfit, blonde hair, three thin marks on each cheek._ Isa's jaw clenched. _That's not Naruto._

He laughed as he approached, running a hand through his windblown hair. "What was that?" He asked, looking around casually, as if they hadn't just been blasted out of a tree without warning.

Isa wrenched her arm out of Sasuke's grasp and found the handle of a kunai, hurling it toward Naruto with as much force as she could muster.

Naruto scrambled out of the way, staring at her in disbelief. "Are you crazy?! What are you doing?" He demanded, glancing at Sasuke, dumbfounded.

Isa's mouth was pressed into a thin line of anger. "You're not Naruto."

"Of course I am!" He said defensively, glaring at her.

"You're lying," She spat, eyes narrowed dangerously. Her head ached from smashing into the tree earlier, but she shook away the haziness at the corners of her vision, ignoring the way the earth wobbled unsteadily beneath her.

"Who are you?" Sasuke asked, voice deadly calm where hers was furious. His Sharingan were bright, every muscle in his body tensed for action.

Naruto didn't reply immediately, but his affronted expression melted into a sinister grin. It was a disturbing expression, particularly on Naruto's usually-cheerful face. "Clever, aren't you?" He simpered, his voice taking on a high, delicate pitch. The hairs on the back of Isa's neck stood up and she fought the urge to shudder. Naruto eyed her, a malicious look in his eyes, and there was a puff of smoke; when it cleared, Naruto was gone, leaving a tall, pale ninja in his place.

_The Grass ninja from before,_ she realized with a shock. _The one who gave Anko her kunai back. The man with the forked tongue!_

"The Sharingan would have picked up on my transformation jutsu anyway, but you, girl, you're a sensory type, aren't you? You knew I was coming." The Grass ninja's smile was sharp as he looked them up and down. Isa grit her teeth and stared him down, hoping he couldn't hear the pounding of her heart. "What angry children you are. So much hostility."

"What did you do with Naruto?" Isa asked, hands white-knuckled around the hilts of her kunai.

The Grass ninja looked bored. "I gave him to a friend to play with."

"Well, give him back," Sasuke said acidly. There was none of his usual bravado, no boasting or arrogance. His body was carefully angled in front of Isa's, keeping himself between her and the Grass ninja. She would have been grateful, but all she wanted to do was get both of them as far away from that man as possible.

The Grass ninja chuckled, a high, unnatural sound that made Isa taste bile at the back of her throat. "Oh, but that would be so boring. I have something much more fun in mind." He looked at them and smirked, forked tongue snaking out from between his teeth. When his eyes locked on Isa's, she felt every muscle in her body tense, locked in place, straining against an invisible, palpable force that pressed against her.

She gasped for air, feeling as if she'd swallowed a chunk of ice that had settled in her stomach, making her body go numb. The world compressed around her, vision narrowing until all she could see was his snake-slit eyes. Black was creeping in around her, spots dancing in front of her, vanishing when she blinked. _Breathe,_ some distant part of her mind told her. _Breathe, keep breathing. Think. Move._

Her fingers twitched, curling into fists. Her fingernails cut into her palms, but she couldn't feel it. She couldn't feel anything, could only see herself, the kunai hurtling through the air, plunging into her eye socket. There was blood, dripping and thick and wet and red. She couldn't move, eyes staring blindly ahead of her, transfixed by the horrors playing out in her mind.

His voice was in Isa's skull, hissing in her ears, whispering vile, evil things. She watched over and over, images running through her mind on an endless loop, seeing her own death, Sasuke's death, in vivid detail, every inch of her skin stained with blood that wasn't really there.

She was trembling, the rational part of her mind screaming at her to move, but the hopeless, crushing fear rooted her in place. Her fingernails were cutting angry red semicircles into her hands, but they went unnoticed as she swayed helplessly, stark white, sucking shallow breaths through clenched teeth.

"Still standing?" The Grass ninja watched them dispassionately, like an animal circling its prey. He hadn't moved, was simply staring at them with his terrible slitted eyes.

Isa knew that this was killing intent. She'd felt it before when they'd encountered Zabuza in the Land of Waves, but his had been roiling and dangerous. This was different. This was concentrated fear, cold, detached, clinical. There was no anger, no malice, just terror. Raw and sharp, fear of this man, of what he could do, of what he was _going_ to do.

He sniffed delicately, looking down his nose at them. "I expected more from an Uchiha. I wanted it to be at least somewhat entertaining," He sounded vaguely disappointed, but he hefted a pair of kunai with a careless shrug. "If this is the best you can do, it'll be no great loss if I kill you. You've both seen how this ends, haven't you?"

The kunai twirled through his fingers gracefully, glimmering in the dappled sunlight. He threw them without so much as a blink, sending them hurtling toward Isa and Sasuke with a flick of his wrist. Time ground to a halt, and with a cry, Isa tore through the fear flooding her system, throwing herself toward Sasuke. He was already moving toward her, arm finding her waist and pulling her to the ground.

She tasted dirt and blood in her mouth, biting down hard on her tongue, but the kunai landed harmlessly in a log. Blue eyes met red for a split second, the Sharingan spinning dizzyingly, and then they were up again, scrambling to their feet. Nausea rolled in her stomach, though whether from the fear or her recent headlong crash into a tree, Isa wasn't sure. She shoved it away, spitting blood out of her mouth.

Sasuke was in the air, hands flashing through a series of signs. "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" Fire billowed from his mouth, blowing a crater into the ground where the Grass ninja was. He flipped backwards, landing neatly, unaffected by the fire that was licking at the ground.

Isa's chakra was flowing out of her, molding itself into water around her before flowing into a human shape, solidifying into a clone of herself. Sasuke landed on a tree branch and pushed off immediately, propelling himself forward. He was moving so fast that Isa almost lost track of him; one moment he was in the air, hurling shuriken toward the Grass ninja, and the next he was within arms-reach of the still-smiling man, kunai glimmering.

Isa's clone moved with him, swooping in low and fast. Isa was forming more hand signs. _Dragon. Tiger. Hare. Deep breath, go._

"Water Style: Raging Waves!" A jet of water burst from her mouth, crashing into the Grass ninja as Sasuke and her clone lashed out. There was a brief moment of elation, the knot in Isa's stomach twisting in desperate hope. _We got him. There's no way he can avoid a three-way attack like that._

Then she was being yanked into the air, hanging at eye-level with the Grass ninja. His lip curled in disdain.

"Annoying girl." His voice was still silky smooth, but his eyes had taken on a cold, merciless glint. Isa struggled weakly, feeling her chakra slowly seeping away from her.

_I used too much,_ she thought. _I put too much into that water jutsu. I knew I should have practiced it more._

Her clone leapt at the Grass ninja from behind, but was met with a kunai through the throat. The clone's face froze in a shocked expression, and she disintegrated back into water.

The Grass ninja sniffed dismissively, and with a graceful movement, tossed Isa into a nearby tree. She slammed into the trunk of the tree with a strangled cry of pain, crumpling to the ground. For a moment, everything went black. At first, there was nothing, no sensations, no thought. The first thing she knew was a sharp, stabbing pain in her side. Her head was pounding, and tears sprung unbidden to her eyes when she sucked in a breath.

Pain throbbed through the left side of her body, and when she brushed her fingers against the side of her head, they came away bloody. She pried her eyes open, fighting against the nausea that rose when she forced herself off of the ground.

Sasuke's fists were clenched, rage simmering in his eyes. He was separated from her, facing off with the Grass ninja from the other side of the small clearing.

"Who are you?!" He demanded, teeth bared when the Grass ninja chuckled. It was a cloying, unsettling sound, more hissing than anything Isa would ever associate with actual laughter.

"My name is Orochimaru," He replied archly, arrogance bleeding through his words.

Sasuke sneered at him. "Never heard of you."

Isa could see Orochimaru's shoulders tighten slightly. His voice dropped any pretense of geniality. "Watch yourself, stupid child. You are valuable, but I have no use for your tongue; I may rip it out to save myself the irritation of listening to you speak."

Sasuke's face smoothed into a smirk. "Just try it, you snake freak."

Orochimaru took a single step forward, the first note of anger in his narrowed eyes, but a blur of bright orange collided with his face. Isa blinked blearily, staring open-mouthed at Naruto.

He landed in front of Sasuke, glaring fiercely at Orochimaru. "You're a real dick, you know that?" He grinned widely, blue eyes bright. "You think you can feed me to some giant snake and get away with it? I'm the greatest ninja ever, I don't give up that easily!"

Orochimaru growled, skin flaking off of his face from where Naruto had hit him. Beneath, his face was ghostly white, so pale it was almost translucent. "Fool," He hissed. There was an explosion of smoke, and as it cleared, Isa felt her blood run cold.

Orochimaru was standing in the coils of a huge snake, its clear green eyes glaring balefully down at the children it dwarfed. Isa grit her teeth and struggled to her feet, gripping her side, every movement sending a white-hot jolt of pain through her body.

The snake lunged, fangs gleaming. Naruto and Sasuke jumped out of the way, tumbling as the snake rammed into the trunk of a tree, cracks splintering outward from where it hit. It reared up, a cold fury in its eyes. When it lunged again, Isa's breath caught in her throat.

_They can't escape it. It's too fast._ Her eyes darted to Orochimaru, who was watching on with twisted delight. _I don't have enough chakra left to do anything. I'm useless. I can manage one more move, but if I try something too big, I'll be risking chakra exhaustion._

She watched as Sasuke's eyes widened in alarm, too slow to react to the mouthful of fangs that was getting dangerously close to him. Then, Naruto was there. One hand was braced against the snake, halting it completely. The air around him shimmered with heat, and when he looked up, his eyes were red.

_It's that chakra again! That same chakra from the Land of Waves!_ It wasn't as concentrated as it had been in the before, but it was unmistakable. It blotted out everything, consuming Isa's senses in a way that was markedly different from Orochimaru's killing intent.

They were similar, both incomprehensibly powerful, but Orochimaru's killing intent was icy and uncaring, merciless in its force. The red chakra was different, though. It was burning, brilliant and red and violent. It consumed, it was destruction, but Orochimaru was simply death.

The snake thrashed, but Naruto didn't budge. The chakra was getting stronger, hovering on the edge of visibility.

Orochimaru's face was intrigued, his smile indecipherable. "A fool, and a stupid one, but stronger than I thought. What should we do with you?"

"Leave him alone," Isa said. She hated how weak her voice sounded, how tiny she felt when Orochimaru's eyes swiveled to hers.

Orochimaru smirked, amused. "You're still alive?"

She let go of her side, standing upright as best she could. "Leave my friends alone."

"Or what?" Orochimaru's smirk widened, forked tongue flicking across his lips. "You'll throw another water clone at me? Sit down, you pathetic little girl."

Isa swallowed hard, raising her hands. "No."

"Isa, don't!" Sasuke was reaching for her, but she was on the other side of the clearing, and when her fingers formed a perfect 'O', all he could do was watch helplessly.

"Ninja Art: Mind Transfer Jutsu!"

Her eyes slid shut and she collapsed. Orochimaru twitched and shuddered violently. There was a strained moment where the only noise was the wind whistling through the trees. Then, he laughed, long, high-pitched, maniacal. Naruto shoved away the snake, and it curled back, hissing angrily.

"What did you do to her?!" His lips were peeled back from his teeth, snarling.

Orochimaru turned his back on Isa's motionless body. "I did nothing to her. She's still in here," He tapped the side of his head. "The stubborn child refuses to give up. A minor annoyance."

"Let her go, or I'll kill you," Sasuke was livid, trembling in tightly controlled anger.

Orochimaru didn't appear impressed. "You're welcome to try."

Sasuke growled low in his throat, Sharingan spinning. He sprung into the air, shuriken glinting wickedly as he threw them. Orochimaru chuckled, and when they landed, he was gone. He laid one hand on Sasuke's chest in mid-air, and pushed. All of the breath left Sasuke's body in a choked cough, and he was shoved back, barely managing to avoid crashing into a tree.

He landed clumsily on the ground, pivoting for another attack before he'd even regained his balance. But Orochimaru was already there, blocking his punch effortlessly. He leaned in and Sasuke's eyes widened in horror, crying out in shock as Orochimaru's teeth sunk into his neck.

Naruto roared. The haze of red chakra had fully engulfed his body now, and when he punched the snake, it recoiled in pain, tail lashing out, catching nearby trees and sending cracks splintering across their trunks.

When Orochimaru released him, Sasuke collapsed to his knees, clutching the bite on his neck. His Sharingan wavered, concentration broken by the pain coursing through him. Orochimaru smiled, licking at the thin line of blood trickling from his mouth.

"A gift, Sasuke Uchiha. Use it well." He turned away from the boy, who was quaking, the pain intensifying, thrumming along with the beat of his heart. "And you," Orochimaru sneered at Naruto in distaste. "You're even more irritating than that pretty, useless girl."

He didn't move as Naruto charged at him, fingernails sharpened into claws. Orochimaru caught him in the stomach, hand sinking through the shroud of chakra. His hand twisted against Naruto's stomach, and the chakra sputtered, then abruptly went out.

Naruto's face faltered, blue seeping back into the red of his eyes. Orochimaru sniffed smugly, and he spun, throwing Naruto bodily across the clearing. He slammed against a tree, head striking hard, and his eyes fluttered shut.

Orochimaru surveyed the destruction with bored disinterest. All three genin were out cold, sprawled across the forest floor. Sasuke was unconscious, but his face twitched spasmodically in agony, eyes roving restlessly under his eyelids. Naruto was slumped against a tree, blood trickling from his mouth, and Isa was still huddled on the ground, any grip she had had on Orochimaru's mind long since faded.

With a loud crack, a tree swayed and fell, split cleanly where the snake's head had rammed into it. It landed with a resounding crash. Orochimaru grinned, satisfied, and stepped onto the head of his snake. It slithered away into the trees, taking its master with it.

When Isa came to, her entire body was throbbing. Every single part of her hurt. She coughed feebly, the taste of blood lingering in her mouth. Her bones felt hollow, all of the strength sapped out of her. Her head pounded with the rhythm of her heart, a dull, persistent ache that made her throat tighten, on the edge of nausea. She opened her eyes, and the world tilted wildly in front of her.

The dim light was fading rapidly, the sun setting, sending dark shadows across the clearing. Isa dug her fingers into the dirt and she forced herself onto her knees, shaking with the effort. Her vision spun, her hearing blotted out, and she keeled over, retching. When she was done, she whimpered pitifully and crawled over to Naruto, slumping against him.

She pressed her fingers against his neck, searching for a pulse, blinking away tears of relief when she found one. It took a while, and she had to stop, bracing herself against the blinding pain that shot through her side, but she looped his arm around her shoulders. She didn't trust herself to stand, so she pulled him with her, dragging him over to Sasuke.

Sasuke's forehead was creased, mouth drawn into a frown even when completely comatose. She pulled him toward her, with Naruto's inert body draped over her side, and peered at his neck. The bite mark had stopped bleeding, but the angry red marks faded in contrast to the black symbol next to them.

She ran her fingers over it, frowning, too disoriented to make sense of what she was seeing. Sasuke reflexively flinched away when she touched the mark, and even while running on the very last reserves of her chakra, she could feel the dark energy radiating off of it. She gently brushed his hair out of his face, then tugged his arm around her shoulders, as well.

She almost passed out again when she tried to stand, but eventually fought her way to her feet. Her steps were shuffling and unsteady, but bit by bit, she hauled her teammates out of the clearing. She had no chakra left, not even enough to reach out to sense danger, so she just walked, getting as far away from the clearing as she could before her legs started wobbling dangerously.

There was a partially-hidden cavern of sorts formed by the overgrown roots of a tree, and she set Naruto and Sasuke down there. She collapsed against the trunk of the tree, her teammates on either side of her.

_Have to stay awake,_ she told herself, the cold steel of the kunai in her hand doing little to jar her into wakefulness. Her eyes threatened to drift shut of their own accord, the pain in her head and side settling into a dull throb, almost lulling her to sleep. If she could have paced in order to stay awake, she would have, but her vision was becoming increasingly blurry, and every breath sent a sharp stab of pain along her ribcage.

There were, without a doubt, broken ribs, so she fished a roll of bandages out of her pack and bound them tightly around her chest. Tears of pain prickled at her eyes, but she blinked them away, tying off the bandage and settling back against the trunk of the tree. The bandages weren't enough to alleviate the pain, but they stopped the bones from jarring against each other. It was the best she could do in her current condition.

Isa yawned widely, wincing when it strained at her bandages. _I can't sleep. I have to protect them._ She looked down at her teammates, their faces dirty, scraped, and bruised. Naruto looked peaceful, even with dried blood flaking away from his mouth, but Sasuke was clammy, peaked, stirring uneasily.

She took his hand, lacing their fingers together. His expression didn't change, but the contact brought some sense of comfort to Isa, even though his hand was limp in hers. _He'll be okay,_ she thought. She refused to acknowledge any other outcome. _They'll both wake up and we'll make it to the tower, and everything will be fine. We've survived so far. We're still alive._ Her eyes were drooping, head nodding in exhaustion.

Now that the adrenaline had run its course, she felt worn out, stretched, and weary to her very bones. Every fiber of her being was sore, every joint protested when she moved. She didn't even try to count her injuries. The ceaseless, sickening ache in her head was likely a concussion, which was unsurprising considering she'd been thrown against two trees in a short period of time.

How long had the fight been? She couldn't remember. Time seemed distorted, her senses hopelessly jumbled. It couldn't have lasted more than fifteen minutes, but it felt like it had gone on forever.

The light was almost completely gone now, the thick forest blocking out most of the setting sunlight, but she imagined that it was hovering low along the horizon. It was warm in her little cave, almost headily so. She was cushioned by a blanket of moss that covered the ground and crept across the tree, its tiny white flowers lending a delicate, sweet fragrance to the air.

She plucked one and twirled it between her fingers, the corners of her mouth curled into a small, tired smile. The white flower was bright against her dirt-smudged skin, as fragile as she felt. It fluttered out of her fingers as her eyes shut, finally too weak to pry them open again.

* * *

A/N: Okay so I know this chapter was shorter than normal, but I really didn't want to stretch it out any longer than this. I feel like it was important to consolidate it and really focus on this one scene, so unfortunately you guys get a shorter chapter this week. It's okay though because next week is longer. So yeah, this week is basically all about Team Seven getting the shit beaten out of them. Poor kids. We're definitely going to be exploring the effects of this fight, because I feel like the lasting effects of something as traumatic as this weren't really addressed in the show, at least not to the extent that I want them to be. Naturally, everyone has a very different way of dealing with trauma, so we'll get to see how Isa handles it. Anyway, thanks for reading, hope you enjoy! :)


	13. Chapter 13

___Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters. Isa Yamanaka and any other OC's are mine._

* * *

Isa was dreaming. She knew she was. She was standing in a field of flowers that extended as far as the eye could see, a myriad of colors that wove softly in the breeze. There was nothing else, no landmarks, just flowers and endless blue sky. It was as if the dream came to her in pieces, at first all she knew was what was around her. Then, there was a sense of being, an awareness of herself, her bare feet in the grass, the blue dress that fluttered around her knees, the blonde hair that slipped around her shoulders, its normal tie gone. She looked up and her mother was standing in front of her.

Hanako smiled at her, placing a braided circle of flowers on Isa's head. "Look at you," She cooed, smoothing a hand over Isa's cheek. "My little baby girl is so beautiful. So grown up. Your father is going to have to beat boys off with a stick."

Isa leaned into her mother's touch, clinging to its warmth. "I miss you."

Hanako's smile turned sad. She knelt before her daughter and drew her into a hug. "I know. I miss you, too."

Isa wrapped her arms around Hanako and held on tightly, feeling hot tears well up in her eyes. "Mommy, I'm scared."

Hanako shushed her gently. "It's okay, baby, I'm here. I've got you. You don't have to be scared any more."

Isa sniffled, pulling back and rubbing at her eyes. "I don't know what to do. I don't think I can do this."

Hanako frowned, but her eyes were soft and understanding. "You are _strong_, Isa. You can do it."

"What if I can't?" Isa's voice was wobbly, her eyes glassy, desperately searching her mother's face for reassurance.

"You can. I believe in you, your father believes in you, and Ino believes in you. You are capable of much more than you think." Hanako's voice was proud.

Isa sighed shakily. "I just don't want to disappoint anybody."

Hanako laughed, the sound like clear bells, snatched away by the breeze. She threaded her fingers through Isa's hair lovingly. "I promise, no one will be disappointed in you. I love you, we all love you. You'll always have us." She stood up, pressing a kiss to Isa's forehead.

"You have to go now, don't you?" Isa asked, fingers twining with Hanako's.

She smiled wistfully. "No, darling. You do."

Isa's eyes snapped open. She sucked in a breath, the smell of stale air and fallen leaves horribly familiar. She was back in the forest, slumped against a tree in her root cave. Outside her shelter, dusty sunlight was filtering through the thick canopy overhead.

_I slept all night!_ She looked around, taking stock of her surroundings. Naruto and Sasuke were still out cold; Naruto's breathing was easy and deep, but Sasuke was shimmering with a haze of energy. She reached for her chakra, finding a small pool already waiting for her. She felt out for the energy, balking away from the dark, violent power radiating from her comatose teammate.

She pressed her hand to his forehead experimentally. _He's burning up. Crap,_ she thought, chewing on her lip in worry. _All that energy is coming from the mark on his neck. I don't think I could help him even if I had enough chakra to do something._

She leaned back against the tree, and quickly took stock of her own injuries. _Head still hurts, but I can look around without getting dizzy. Definitely have a broken rib or two. I'm not coughing up blood, though, so there probably isn't any internal bleeding._ She prodded at her face, feeling around carefully. There were two bumps on her head from where she'd hit the trees, and there were a few scrapes on her face, but she was mostly intact.

Besides her head and her ribs, the rest of her injuries were superficial, her scratches already scabbing over. Nothing required immediately medical attention, and for that she breathed a quiet sigh of relief. She stood up cautiously, taking slow steps once the world stopped spinning around her.

She made it to the entrance of her makeshift shelter and surveyed the landscape. She couldn't have made it far from the fight, given the shape she'd been in, but there were no discernible landmarks to indicate where they were. There was a small stretch of grass in front of her cave, enclosed by a ring of trees that were identical to all the others. They could have been anywhere in the forest.

With a sigh, she sat down at the mouth of her hideout, tugging her canteen from her belt. She shook it, finding it almost empty. She'd used most of it already on water clones and the water jutsu against Orochimaru. _Which didn't help at all,_ she thought bitterly. _I might as well have thrown a pebble at him. _She pursed her lips unhappily and glaring at the canteen in disgust. _Useless. I wasted all my chakra and it didn't even help. Naruto and Sasuke are still hurt_.

She concentrated, trying to summon enough chakra to refill the canteen. A thin sheen of sweat broke out across her forehead, the color draining slightly from her face, but when she released her chakra a moment later, the canteen was almost half-full. She took a few measured sips, and crammed a ration bar in her mouth, swallowing past the treacherous nausea that was tightening in her throat. _Gotta eat to keep my strength up. I'm not gonna die out here because I was an idiot and starved to death._

She took measured breaths until the nausea faded, and then crawled back into the shelter and settled beside Naruto, carefully tipping his head back and letting water trickle down his throat. She waited until she was sure he'd swallowed it before doing the same to Sasuke.

Her canteen was returned to her belt, and she'd just begun moving back to the opening of the cave when she froze, eyes going wide. There was a chakra presence just outside.

_How could I not notice someone approaching?_ The urge to punch herself was strong, but instead she stayed absolutely still, hardly daring to breathe. _Maybe they don't know we're here. _It was a vain, desperate hope, and her fingers fished a kunai out of her leg holster, gripping it tightly.

She edged around the corner of the roots that were hiding her from sight, and her mouth dropped open in shock.

"Lee?!" She leaned out farther, staring nonplussed at the jumpsuit-clad boy who was standing in front of her.

He blinked in surprise. "Oh, hello, Isa! I did not see you there!"

"Why are you out here by yourself?" She asked, looking around for his teammates, pressing a hand to her forehead when her vision blurred at the movement. "Are Neji and Tenten okay?"

He nodded. "Yes, they are fine. We have split up in order to cover more ground."

Comprehension dawned on her. "You're still trying to get a scroll, aren't you?" She leaned against one of the huge roots, eyes fluttering closed, breathing labored. "I forgot about the exam."

Lee was looking at her uncertainly, eyes wide with concern. "Isa, are you okay? Where are Naruto and Sasuke?"

She jerked a thumb over her shoulder. "They're in there, but they're both out cold."

"What has happened to you?" Lee asked, thick eyebrows furrowed, staring at her intently.

Isa hesitated, licking dry lips before responding. "We were attacked. The guy... he was really strong. I think he probably could have killed us without even trying."

"I am glad that he did not kill you, but why did he leave you alive, if you were that outmatched by him?"

She shrugged helplessly. "I don't know. I was unconscious. When I woke up, he was gone, Naruto and Sasuke were both totally out of it, and-" She paused for a fraction of a second, debating whether to tell Lee about the mark on Sasuke's neck. "-and now there's something on Sasuke's neck, and I think it's hurting him." She sucked in a shallow breath, wincing in pain, blinking up at Lee through watery eyes. "I don't know what to do, Lee."

Lee nodded and was silent for a long minute, thinking. Finally, he looked up, conviction in his eyes. "I know that we are supposed to be enemies right now, but I have decided that I cannot leave you here undefended!"

"You still have to find a scroll, though," She said, resting her head against the side of the tree, one arm wrapped around her side, grimacing in pain every time she tried to breathe too deeply.

He waved away her words. "I am sure that Neji and Tenten will be able to get a scroll by themselves. You and your team are hurt, so your safety is most important to me right now! We may be competing, but I will not abandon my comrades when they need my help!"

Isa's smile was weak, but grateful. "I- Thanks, Lee."

His smile was warm, and he put his hands on his hips decisively. "I also have bandages with me, if you need them."

She took the proffered bandages and turned back into the cave, sinking down between her teammates slowly, with teeth gritted against the pain. Lee followed her inside, crouching next to Naruto. Isa tore the bandages into two long strips and folded them neatly, wetting one with water from her canteen.

"I have never seen anything like this before," Lee said, frowning at the dark, malignant chakra swirling around Sasuke's body.

Isa laid the damp bandage across Sasuke's forehead. "Neither have I. I don't know how to stop it, but he has a fever, so..." She gestured at the bandage helplessly.

"You have done the best you can," Lee said seriously. "You have not let the power of your youth fade, you have kept fighting even when it hurts, and I admire you very much for that!"

Isa made to smile, but the expression froze halfway across her face. Warning bells were chiming in her head. _Someone's here._

"Lee," She whispered, fear creeping into her voice. Her eyes were huge in her pale, dirty face.

He tensed immediately, moving to the entrance of the root cave. He glanced at her worriedly when she moved to stand beside him, kunai in her sweaty, shaking hand. She tapped on his arm three times, and he nodded. _Three of them._

Though still weak, she'd sensed them approaching. Now, they were standing mere feet away from their hiding place. Her heart was hammering in her chest, and nausea rolled in her stomach, this time distinctly unrelated to the pain in her head.

She heard someone laugh. It was a male voice, derisive, arrogant, and it set Isa's teeth on edge. "What a joke. They're not even smart enough to post a guard!"

Someone else, another man, snorted. "Idiot children. Lord Orochimaru should have given us a tougher assignment."

"Let's just get this over with." The third person was a woman, and her voice sent a tremor of recognition down Isa's spine.

_I know her! That's the Sound ninja, the girl who I used the Mind Transfer Jutsu on._ Her eyes locked on Sasuke, whose body was rippling in tendrils of purple chakra. _'Find the kid and kill him'. That was their mission. And if Orochimaru sent them... _Visions of giant snakes and cruel smiles flashed through her mind._ No. No, no, this isn't happening. Not again. I can't let him get hurt again._

Lee gripped her shoulder, jerking her back to reality. "Stay here, Isa," He whispered. "Do not worry."

She reached out to hold him back, but he was already stepping out of hiding. She resisted the urge to groan aloud, instead swallowing her fear and edging around toward the opposite end of the root cave. It narrowed at the end, but there was a small gap near the ground, barely wide enough for her to slip through. She waited, listening to the conversation outside, hoping that Lee had their full and undivided attention.

"Who the hell are you?" One of the Sound ninja was asking. It was the first one who had spoken, the one with the cocky voice.

"I am a ninja of the Hidden Leaf village," Lee said, sounding remarkably sure of himself for someone who was facing off against three opponents. Isa wriggled through the gap between the roots, emerging on the other side and ducking out of sight. Her ribs were sending sharp, stabbing pain through her side each time she so much as twitched, but she ignored it, pushing aside her pain and focusing on the ninja facing Lee.

"Get out of the way," The female ninja said. She sounded almost bored. "We're here to fight the Uchiha kid."

_So they are here for Sasuke,_ Isa thought. Something in her went cold at the realization, steeling like quicksilver in her gut, fingers tightening reflexively around the hilt of her kunai.

"I will not let you hurt him," Lee said.

One of the Sound ninja, the man with the bandaged face, stepped forward. _He's the one who took a swing at Kabuto before the first exam. He didn't hit him, but Kabuto was still effected. He can get to people without even touching them, and Lee's a close-range fighter. This is definitely not good._

"I'll take care of him," The bandaged ninja said. Isa was scrambling for a plan, breathing shallow, heart beating erratically. _Whatever his attack is, it's not a jutsu. Kabuto's glasses shattered before of it, and given that they're from the Sound village, their techniques are probably related to sound waves somehow. I just don't know how his attacks work._

She grit her teeth in frustration. Reaching for her chakra, praying she had enough strength, she formed a series of hand signs, settling a False Surroundings genjutsu over the area. With another hand sign, she used a Replacement Jutsu on Lee, substituting him for a small log near her feet.

He appeared next to her, terribly confused. She clapped a hand over his mouth before he could speak. "Genjutsu," She mouthed. The Sound ninja hadn't seemed to notice that anything was amiss. If the genjutsu was working, they were staring at where they thought Lee was, completely oblivious.

"You need to stay away from that guy," She whispered into Lee's ear, pointing at the ninja with the bandaged face. His lone visible eye was sharp, and he lacked the abrasive, egotistical demeanor of his teammates. She doubted the genjutsu would hold for long against him. "He won't even have to hit you to defeat you."

Lee pried her hand away from his mouth. "I appreciate your concern, Isa, but please do not underestimate me."

She huffed, bangs fluttering. "I'm not! Just don't underestimate _them_, is what I'm saying."

Lee nodded solemnly. "I will be careful, I promise."

She let him go reluctantly, watching him duck into the foliage and circle around behind the Sound ninja. She could feel her chakra ebbing after only two simple jutsus, so she remained hidden, waiting with frayed nerves for the fight to begin.

"Come on, Dosu, just hit him already," The cocky, spiky-haired Sound ninja drawled, arms crossed in disinterest.

The bandaged ninja- Dosu -shot him a dirty look, but his hand curled into a fist. _Crap. If he tries to attack, he'll see through the genjutsu in a second._ Isa chewed on her lip, teeth breaking the dry skin when she bit down.

As Dosu's arm swung out toward where Lee was supposed to be, the real Lee burst out of the trees, kicking Dosu squarely in the back of the head. The Sound ninja stumbled, almost falling. Lee was a blur of movement, not giving Dosu enough time to regain his balance before he was punched in the kidneys. Lee kicked out the back of Dosu's knees, sending the older shinobi to the ground.

There was a moment when Isa thought that they just might be able to win, they had the element of surprise, an early advantage, but Dosu was already moving again. He lashed back with his arm, a sloppy punch that Lee blocked easily.

Dosu chuckled, struggling to his feet. Lee took a single step forward to stop him, then blanched, doubled over, retching. "You're fast, kid, but you're no match for me," Dosu said smugly. "See this?" He held up his arm, indicating the amplifier strapped to it. "With this, I can make sound waves and manipulate them. You're probably feeling pretty bad right now, aren't you?"

Lee grimaced up at him, rising shakily to his feet. Isa's eyes narrowed sharply. _So that's how he does it. I need to take that amplifier out of commission,_ she thought, grabbing a second kunai and tying a length of ninja wire between the two knives. _If I'm quick, I might be able to pin his arm against a tree, and then knock him out once he can't get at me._

Dosu raised his arm to strike again, and she sprung into action. Jumping into the air, she flung the kunai. The wire caught Dosu's wrist and drug him backward, stopping him mid-swing. The kunai imbedded themselves in a tree and stuck there.

There was a brief surge of pride in Isa's chest before she was being blasted sideways. The wind that hit her was powerful, and it blew her out of the air, straight for a tree. She twisted wildly in the air, and managed to land on the tree with her feet absorbing the impact. _I am not hitting my head on another god damn tree. _Her ribs screamed in protest to the jarring movement, but she scowled, shoving away the discomfort to a distant part of her mind.

Dosu was straining against her ninja wire, and Lee was stumbling toward him, glaring. The Sound ninja with spiky hair was the one who had attacked Isa. His hands were raised, open holes in the middle of his palms.

_He... blows air? Out of his hands?_ Isa's lip curled in irritation. _Fantastic. _She pushed off of the tree, forming a hand sign as she allowed gravity to pull her back to earth. By the time the wind attack hit her again, she'd performed a Replacement Jutsu, materializing behind the Sound ninja where a stick had been seconds before.

He was slow on the uptake, only barely beginning to turn toward her when she buried a kunai in his stomach. He grunted in pain, hitting her face-first with a gust of air. She skidded back, but a quick redirection of chakra kept her feet on the ground.

Dosu had gotten free of the ninja wire, but he was slower now. Lee had been able to land a handful of solid hits before he had broken out of the wire. The female Sound ninja was looking between her teammates with the faintest edge of worry in her eyes.

"You little bitch!" The spiky-haired boy spat, glaring at Isa in absolute fury. He pulled the kunai out of his stomach and tossed it to the ground, blood seeping from the wound. "I'm gonna kill you!"

Isa tensed, and when he rushed at her, she was ready. She slid beneath his arms, yanked her elbow back, and caught him in the solar plexus. He coughed, eyes screwed shut in pain. Isa let his momentum carry him over her shoulder, and when he landed on the ground, she grabbed his hair, a kunai to his throat.

She was breathing hard, face greenish and sickly, a bead of sweat rolling down the side of her face, but her eyes were cold and clear. "Give up right now, or your teammate is dead."

The female Sound ninja sneered at her. "You look ready to pass out. You really think you can take me?"

Isa swallowed, her throat tight and vision going blurry. _I used too much chakra,_ she thought, cursing her own stupidity. "Your name is Kin," She said, forcing words out of her clenched mouth. "I was in your head. I saw everything. Why are you after Sasuke?"

Kin smirked, fingers toying idly with a senbon. Out of the corner of her eye, Isa saw Lee kick Dosu in the jaw, sending the Sound ninja high in the air. "So you were the one who went rummaging around in my brain, huh?" Kin said, drawing Isa's attention back to her. "That's really rude, you know."

"What do you want with Sasuke?" Isa repeated. The world was tilting dangerously now, and her mind was scrambling to keep up with everything that was happening. She felt like she was drowning, suffused in honey, moving in slow motion while everything around her spun.

Kin grinned, raising her senbon. "We want to kill him. But you already knew that, didn't you?" The senbon came hurling toward Isa and struck her in the shoulder, driving deep into the muscle. She hissed in pain, and her grip on the boy in her arms weakened fractionally. He wrestled out of her grasp, and spun, eyes blazing, fist flying.

Her nose crunched, her head snapped back, and pain exploded across her face. She didn't notice when her knees his the ground, or when a hand bunched in her shirt, hauling her upward. She didn't see the boy's face, or his fist as he pulled back for another punch.

Blood poured from her nose. She could taste it, hot and metallic in her mouth. One hand scrabbled blindly for a kunai, gripping it tightly when she found it. She plunged it into the tender spot on the inside of his elbow. He dropped her with a curse, stumbling back. She landed clumsily, foot slipping sideways off a stray root. Something in her ankle gave out, popping with a sickening sort of frailty.

She crumpled to the ground and looked up, tears of pain in her eyes, watching something very large barrel into the Sound ninja. He crashed into a tree, pummeled into the wood by the spinning, bullet-like object. Kin made to help him, but was rooted to the spot.

"What the-?!" She stared at her feet, trying in vain to move.

"Ninja Art: Mind Transfer Jutsu!" Kin's eyes widened, then slid shut, head slumping forward. When she looked up, her grin was so familiar, so confident and bright, that Isa really did start crying.

Shikamaru was by her side in an instant, pulling her against his chest, dark eyes scanning the battlefield keenly. Choji had finally stopped spinning, and the spiky-haired Sound ninja was coughing up blood, barely able to stay on his feet. Dosu had done a number on Lee, who was on the ground, clearly in an immense amount of pain.

Shikamaru's shadow lanced out, catching Dosu's feet and holding the ninja in place. "Kin, do something!" Dosu shouted.

Kin snorted, rolling her eyes. "Um, yeah, your friend isn't here right now," She said, tapping the side of her head cheerfully.

"Ino, knock her out and get back to your body," Shikamaru said, voice terse. Kin nodded, shut her eyes, and collapsed to the ground. There was a rustling noise in the bushes nearby and Ino emerged a moment later, slightly disoriented.

There was a long moment when no one spoke. They glared at each other, wordlessly sizing up the competition. The Sound team was battered, and outnumbered, Kin was unconscious, Dosu was immobilized, and the other boy was bleeding heavily, face pale, drawn tight with pain. Granted, Isa and Lee were hardly in fighting condition, but Team Ten was sharp-eyed and angry.

"You assholes think you can beat up my sister and get away with it?" Ino's voice cracked like a whip, vicious, hot with anger. She stood in front of Isa protectively, glaring daggers at the two remaining Sound ninja.

"They're after Sasuke," Isa muttered, spitting blood out of her mouth. "He's unconscious."

Shikamaru tensed. "Not any more."

Isa's eyes widened. Sasuke was standing just outside the root cave, swathed in dark energy. He was awake, but there was something in his grin that was markedly _not Sasuke_. Black patterns were swirling across his skin, blazing across his face.

His eyes locked on hers for a split second before they swiveled to the Sound ninja. "Which one of you hurt her?"

Dosu couldn't move, but the visible portion of his face looked scared. His teammate didn't share his apprehension. The spiky-haired boy pushed himself to his feet, grinning through bloody teeth.

"I did. What are you gonna do about it?"

The darkness around Sasuke pulsed, and he was on top of the boy before anyone could move. His smile widened, and his fist descended on the boy's face. Nobody moved to stop him. It was only when Sasuke snapped the boy's arm, and he screamed, that Isa was jolted out of her stunned stupor.

"Sasuke! Stop!" She shouted, voice breaking. She fought to get to her feet, teetering on the edge of unconsciousness when she tried to put weight on her ankle.

Sasuke dropped the Sound ninja, but didn't look at her. She stumbled forward, brushing past Ino, shaking off the hand that made to hold her back. She reached out, fingers pulling at the sleeve of Sasuke's shirt.

He twitched, shuddering violently. Then, his hand was wrapped around her neck. He lifted her off the ground, snarling at her, eyes livid and unseeing. She gasped for air, but his hand was squeezing too tight, cutting off her oxygen.

She pulled at his arm, tears streaming down her face. There were distant shouts in her ears, muffled sounds of footsteps and loud voices. She couldn't look away from him. His Sharingan were on fire, blood red surrounded by the stark black marks that trailed across his skin.

"Sasuke," She whispered, whimpering pitifully. "Please, stop."

The fury in his eyes flickered, hand on her throat loosening before being ripped away as he was sent reeling. Isa landed in Shikamaru's arms, staring at Ino, who was looking at her own fist in disbelief.

Her mouth hardened into a thin line of fury, and she glared at the boy she'd just punched in the face. "I'm sorry, Sasuke, but I'm not going to let you hurt Isa."

Sasuke was gaping at her, but the patterns on his face were fading, spiraling back toward his neck. The Sharingan dimmed, then were gone.

"Lord Orochimaru gave you a curse mark." Dosu's voice startled them all. He had regained control of his body, and had slung his unconscious teammates over his shoulders, apparently ready to accept defeat. He bowed his head to Sasuke in grudging resignation. "You are much stronger than I thought. If I give you our scroll, will you let us go? I don't wish for me or my team to die today."

"Put the scroll on the ground and walk away," Shikamaru said. His arms were secure and warm around Isa, but his voice was ice.

Dosu nodded, placing his scroll in the dirt in front of him and slowly backing away, vanishing into the forest.

Choji slung one of Lee's arms around his shoulders, helping him to his feet. "Wish we'd gotten here sooner, we could've saved you guys a load of trouble. You okay, Isa?" He asked, peering at her worriedly. "I have some extra chips, if you want any."

Her chin was wobbling dangerously, and her fingers were trembling, tangled in the mesh of Shikamaru's shirt. Ino knelt beside her, gently brushing hair off of her twin's forehead. "Hey, it's okay. We're here," She said soothingly.

Sasuke clambered to his feet. "Isa, I-"

"Sasuke," Ino said, cutting him off quickly. "Can you help Choji with Lee?" Sasuke blinked, seemed to search for words in vain, then nodded. Ino smiled sadly at Isa. "I'm sorry."

Isa coughed feebly, blood staining her lips. "It's not your fault."

Shikamaru hefted her in his arms, settling her into a more comfortable position, and stood up. "Ino, come on. She needs medical attention."

"I'm fine," Isa mumbled, head tucked under his chin. He carried her into the cave, where Naruto was sitting up, rubbing his eyes.

"Hey, guys- Whoa, what's wrong?!" His voice was inordinately bright, as cheerful as ever, though tinged with worry upon seeing Isa. "What happened?!"

Shikamaru set her down carefully, pulling away the bandages around her chest. "The Sound team attacked and beat up Isa and Lee. We got here in time to stop them. Your _friend_ helped, too." His tone was darkly sardonic, laced with disapproval. Isa's fingers found his and she squeezed, a silent reprimand. His gaze softened, but the unease didn't leave the thin line of his mouth.

"'Friend'?" Naruto repeated, confused. "Who, Sasuke? What'd he do?"

"He tried to kill Isa," Ino said, sitting down next to her sister and setting to work binding her wounds. "Hold still," She warned. Isa set her teeth and tried not to move as Ino grasped her nose, jerking it back into place.

"He _what_?!" Naruto was staring at them in open-mouthed disbelief. "No way, he'd never do that!"

"Well, he did." Shikamaru glanced at Naruto critically. "You were out cold, too?"

Naruto scratched his head, shrugging. "Yeah, I guess so. I just woke up, if that's what you mean. I had a super weird dream about a snake guy, though."

"That wasn't a dream," Isa said, whimpering when Ino gently prodded her ankle. "Orochimaru attacked us before the Sound team," She explained, voice so quiet that Naruto had to lean in to hear. "I wasn't awake for part of it, but he knocked out Naruto and Sasuke, and gave Sasuke a weird mark on his neck. I think that's why he tried to, you know..." She trailed off, gesturing at her neck, where dark, finger-shaped bruises were already blossoming.

Shikamaru sighed, rubbing his face wearily. "Man, this blows. Do you guys have both scrolls yet?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, we got the other one right away. We were doing good until we got attacked." He looked disappointed.

Choji poked his head into the cave. "So Neji and Tenten just showed up and took Lee. That's okay, right?" Shikamaru nodded, and Choji moved into the space, smiling bracingly at Isa. "Hey, you're gonna be fine. You look better already!"

Isa would have laughed if it hadn't hurt too much. "Thanks, Choji." She hesitated before her next words. "Where's Sasuke?"

Choji's smile faded a bit. "He's outside. Said he's gonna keep watch, but he's brooding way more than usual. I think he's afraid you're gonna yell at him."

"Good," Shikamaru muttered.

"He didn't know what he was doing," Isa said by way of admonishment. She didn't have the strength to frown at him.

Ino was making a simple splint for Isa's ankle, and when she finished wrapping it, she sat back, satisfied. "Okay, all done. I'm not sure if your ankle is broken or just fractured, but you definitely have a couple broken ribs. Your nose is broken, but it's gonna be fine, you'll just have black eyes for a week or so."

"And a concussion," Isa added. They stared at her questioningly. "I got slammed into some trees."

Shikamaru snorted, shaking his head. "Leave you alone for five minute and you almost get yourself killed." Despite the levity of his words, there was worry in his eyes, and she leaned against him, nestling into his chest, yawning.

"I'll be okay. Us Yamanaka's are tough," She said sleepily. Ino's smile was the last thing she saw before her eyes shut, exhaustion bearing her into darkness.

* * *

A/N: Ooookay, I know you guys were feeling bad for Isa last week, so naturally she gets beaten up even more this week. I feel a little bad about it, actually. Seems like she really can't catch a break. Anyway, the Second Exam is almost over, and then we'll be moving on to the Preliminaries. I really, really enjoyed writing this chapter; it's always fun to break characters, even if it hurts to do so. Thanks to everyone for the reviews, favorites, and follows, I appreciate each and everyone one of them so much! So thanks for continuing to follow this story, it's way too much fun to write, and I hope everyone continues to enjoy it! The next chapter will be out next Wednesday, as usual.


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